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Tuesday, 11 September 2012

Obama, Romney to speak at Bill Clinton’s philanthropic summit

NEW YORK: US President Barack Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney are expected to set aside their political differences later this month to speak at Bill Clinton’s eighth annual philanthropic summit.

Obama and Romney were invited earlier this summer to attend the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), a summit official said, well before Clinton’s Democratic National Convention speech last week where he gave a rousing endorsement of Obama and a detailed attack on the Republican presidential `candidate.

Obama and Romney will address separate sessions on Sept. 25, the final day of the three-day summit in New York City that brings together heads of state, business leaders, humanitarians and celebrities to make commitments to tackle the world’s woes. It was not known what topics they planned to speak about. “I’m grateful that President Obama and Governor Romney are taking time to join leaders from all parts of society who choose to address our greatest global challenges through the Clinton Global Initiative,” Clinton said in a statement on Monday. “CGI is built on the spirit of non-partisan, cross-sector collaborations that drive action and I’m proud that, since we began in 2005, CGI members have made more than 2,100 commitments that are already improving the lives of 400 million people all over the world,” he said.

Clinton, who this week is due to campaign for Obama in the critical swing states of Florida and Ohio, gave point-by-point criticism of Romney and his vice presidential running mate, congressman Paul Ryan, during a prime-time address to the Democratic convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. Relishing being back in the political spotlight, Clinton said Obama should not be blamed for the poor economy he inherited in 2009 and has set the foundations for strong growth - if voters will give him more time and re-elect him on Nov 6. But campaigning is expected to be set aside for the Clinton Global Initiative. A summit official said the philanthropic summit was traditionally a non-partisan event. “The president of the United States, G20 heads of state and US presidential nominees of both parties have always been invited,” the official said.

“Senator Obama and Senator McCain both addressed the CGI annual meeting in September of 2008,” he said, referring to 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain. “The invitations to President Obama and Governor Romney for the 2012 annual meeting were extended earlier this summer, prior to the conventions,” the official said. Clinton’s wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton - who lost the Democratic presidential nomination to Obama in 2008 - is also slated to appear at the Clinton Global Initiative, along with her Republican predecessor at the State Department, Condoleezza Rice.

The world’s richest man, Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, Mexican President Felipe Calderon, Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee, Spain’s King Juan Carlos and Jordan’s Queen Rania are also due to attend. The idea for the summit came from Clinton’s frustration while president from 1993 to 2001 at attending conferences that prompted no action. reuters

‘Fake’ doctor examines 2,300 people in Japan

TOKYO: A hospital in Japan is checking the qualifications of all of its doctors after a man believed to have no medical licence examined more than 2,300 of its patients.

The man conducted medical interviews, examined electrocardiograms and explained check-up results to people in 2010-2011 at Takashimadaira Chuo General Hospital in Tokyo, weekend media reports said.

The man was dispatched to the hospital through an employment agency and is suspected of being involved in the treatment of 2,363 people, the mass-circulation Yomiuri Shimbun and other media reported.

Broadcaster TBS said allegations he is not qualified came to light after a medical exam study school where he taught contacted the hospital.

The hospital has apologised for the incident and asked all those seen by the man, who is reportedly in his forties and worked part time, to go back for re-testing. “We will thoroughly check the original copies of medical licences of all doctors including those working on a part-time basis,” it said in a statement posted on its website. afp

Libya denies Gaddafi son trial imminent: ICC

THE HAGUE: Libya has denied that slain dictator Muammar Gaddafi’s son Seif al-Islam faces imminent trial on charges of crimes against humanity, The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) said Monday.

Seif has been charged with alleged crimes committed while trying to put down last year’s bloody revolt that toppled his father after over 40 years in power, but the ICC wants him to be tried in The Netherlands. In an interim report to the ICC on trial progress, Libya’s post-Gaddafi administration dismissed claims from both the Libyan prosecution and the defence that Seif would go on trial this month in former rebel bastion Zintan. Such claims are “baseless and false (and) rumours and lies,” the report quoted the head of the Libyan General National Congress Mohammed Youssef al-Magariaf as saying. The Libyan administration said it needed to form a government and name a public prosecutor before being able to say how it would proceed with the trial. The ICC and the new Libyan administration are locked in a dispute over where Seif should be tried. His ICC lawyer has said that Seif would not receive a fair trial in Libya, where he could face the death penalty. Libya said it wanted to submit a further report on progress towards putting Seif on trial, as well as former spy chief Abdullah al-Senussi who was last week extradited from Mauritania to Libya, by September 28. afp

Somali lawmakers `elect new president

MOGADISHU: Somali lawmakers on Monday picked a new president, in what UN brokers have billed as a historic vote for the war-torn nation but observers fear will only return the same fractious and corrupt leaders.

Parliament Speaker Mohamed Osman Jawari, elected by his peers in August, was the first to cast his vote in the presidential poll where 25 candidates are in the running, including the outgoing transitional president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.

The election is the final stage of a UN-backed process to set up a new administration for the war-torn country. The new parliamentarians, selected last month by a group of traditional elders, rose one after the other amid tight security to cast their ballots in a packed room at the police academy.

African Union and UN security officials conducted body searches and fingerprint checks on all those allowed anywhere near the venue. A candidate needs to take two-thirds of the vote to win outright, otherwise the top four candidates will go into a second round, with a third round for the final two. The final winner will be selected by a simple majority. Each candidate had to pay $10,000 (7,900 euros) to enter the race.

The election has been delayed several times, missing an August 20 deadline, and international pressure has increased on parliament to choose a president swiftly. The UN’s special representative for Somalia, Augustine Mahiga, said Monday said that while obstacles remain, the presidential election will “mark another milestone in the country’s political process”. He called on legislators to select “the best candidate as the leader for their nation”. The lawmakers assembled at a venue at Mogadishu airport after having their fingerprints checked.

Civil society representatives flocked as close as they were permitted, engaging in heated debate about the best candidate. Analysts have been gloomy on the process, suggesting it offers little but a reshuffling of key figures and positions from the outgoing Western-backed government. Somalia has lacked an effective central government since president Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991, unleashing cycles of bloody conflict that have defied countless peace initiatives. Ruthless warlords and militia groups including Al Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents have controlled mini-fiefdoms that African Union troops and other forces have only recently started to capture. Outgoing president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, in power since 2009, is one of the favourites, although he cuts a controversial figure with Western observers. A UN report in July said that under his presidency, “systematic embezzlement, pure and simple misappropriation of funds and theft of public money have become government systems” — claims Sharif has rejected. afp

Raiders kill 38 `in latest land clashes in Kenya

* More than 100 villagers killed in three weeks

* Politicians accused of stirring trouble

MOMBASA: Hundreds of armed raiders killed at least 38 villagers and torched more than 150 houses on Monday in the latest fighting between rival tribes in a dispute over land and water in Kenya’s coastal region.

A local official called for the military to be sent to the Tana Delta area as the police struggled to defuse tension between the Pokomo and Orma tribes. More than 100 people have been shot, hacked and burnt to death in the last three weeks as the two sides take revenge for the other’s killings.

The land clashes and deadly riots in the port city of Mombasa following the killing of a radical Muslim preacher last month have raised the prospect of a surge in unrest along the coast ahead of a presidential election next March. “We will soon recommend to the government to send military officers down there to help us restore order,” Samuel Kilele, the provincial commissioner in Coast province, said. Jillo Dabacha, who chairs a community security group in the trouble zone, said about 300 attackers armed with spears, bows and arrows and guns surrounded the Orma village and attacked a nearby police camp in a coordinated strike. “They wanted to prevent the police from interfering with their attack on the village,” Dabacha told Reuters by telephone.

Settled Pokomo farmers and semi-nomadic Orma pastoralists have clashed intermittently for years over access to grazing, farmland and water. The violence broke out again last month after the Pokomo accused the pastoralists of grazing cattle on their land and massacred more than 50 Orma villagers. The Kenyan Red Cross said the death toll from Monday morning’s attack on Kilelengwani village was 38 people, including nine police officers, and that it was considering pulling its local staff out of the Tana Delta.

Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast is a major tourist destination but many Kenyans accuse the government of a decades-long economic and political marginalisation of the region, creating deep social divisions. Zipporah Wamboi, a secondary school teacher in the Tana Delta, said there were often food shortages and very limited access to clean water. “People drink from the swamps and the crocodile-infested Tana River. The plight of these people has been ignored for years now and something must be done quickly,” Wamboi said. Wamboi also said many in the area were armed. “Many of us believe that there is a political instigation to this violence. This violence always take a high crescendo when the political temperatures start take root,” Hassan Omar, a lawyer and former commissioner at the Kenya National Commission for Human Rights, told Reuters.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga visited the area after an earlier attack but government efforts have so far failed to ease the tensions. Cattle rustling and clashes over grazing and farming land are relatively common between communities in arid areas of east Africa and often escalate into revenge attacks. An influx of weapons across Kenya’s borders, in particular from war-ravaged Somalia, have made the situation more violent. reuters

Arrival of UN mission sparks outcry in NA

* Hiraj says it is failure on part of Foreign Office

* Saad criticises National Accountability Bureau, dubs it ‘bad evil of Musharraf’s rule’

By Tanveer Ahmed

ISLAMABAD: The arrival of a United Nations team to probe missing persons issue in the country sparked outcry in the National Assembly.

Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) member Raza Hayat Hiraj severely criticised the team for interfering in the country’s internal matters.

“The permission granted to this team seems to be a step towards self-determination for Balochistan as this team will file a biased report,” Hiraj said on a point of order.

PML-Nawaz lawmaker Saad Rafiq criticised the army for getting back three of its retired generals, involved in NLC scam, into service for court-martial.

“Generals are a divine creature and they cannot be prosecuted in civilian courts,” he said in a bitter tone.

Hiraj asked about the real motive behind the arrival of the UN team. He said, “Is Pakistan a banana republic? Why is the UN team investigating this issue?” He said that ninety percent of the Baloch were patriotic Pakistanis. The UN team would approach the one percent who were in favour of independence to make a case against Pakistan, he added.

“This report will be submitted in the UN and then the ground will be prepared for self-determination,” he added.

Hiraj said it was a failure on the part of the Foreign Office and sought reply from the government, which prompted NA Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi to ask federal minister Manzoor Wattoo to take up the issue.

“It is an important matter. Hiraj should submit an adjournment motion so that debate can be initiated,” Wattoo said.

Earlier, Saad Rafiq blasted the army generals for considering themselves above the law while referring to the NICL scandal in which the army took back three retried army generals in service for their court-martial.

Referring to the Public Accounts Committee, which has been probing into this issue, Saad said it was a constitutional body but the army generals had made mockery of parliament through this act.

Saad said that he knew that one had to pay the price for speaking out against these acts, however, he declared that he would do it because it was meant to insult the army institution.

“When top judiciary sent an elected prime minister packing then why can’t it touch the generals,” he maintained.

He also lashed at the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) by dubbing it a “bad evil of Musharraf’s rule” and referred to millions of corruption by its consultant unearthed by the Anti-Corruption Department Punjab, however, the investigation was stopped by NAB.

India allows direct investment in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Reserve Bank of India has removed restrictions on overseas investment by Indian parties in Pakistan. In a circular issued on September 7, the Reserve Bank of India has stated that henceforth overseas direct investment by Indian parties in Pakistan would be considered and approved as per the relevant regulations and norms. app

Pakistan introduces legislation to bring economy back on track

* President signs Special Economic Zones Bill 2012 with a view to attract investment

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Zardari on Monday signed the Special Economic Zones Bill 2012 during a special ceremony at the Presidency.

Ministers, parliamentarians, dignitaries and government officials attended the ceremony.

Giving details, President’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar said the Senate passed the bill on March 8. The National Assembly also passed the bill on July 13.

Addressing the ceremony, President Zardari said Pakistan had a great economic potential and the government had been taking a number of steps to ensure maximum facilities for investors to utilise full potential of the available resources.

The president said Pakistan had a strategic location, rich mineral resources and skilled manpower, adding, “We must utilise these assets for the economic development of the country.”

Zardari said the new law would help in reducing the cost of doing business.

He said, the new law would increase exports, create jobs and enhance the rate of return to investors. “Under the new law all capital goods, machinery and equipment will be exempted from customs duties,” said the president.

Zardari said the entrepreneurs of these special economic zones would also be exempted from income tax for 10 years.

He said the law had laid the basis of industrial development in the country. He said the incentives granted to the investors would be protected by law and would enhance the investor’s confidence. The new law, he said, would ensure continuity of the economic policies in the country.

Referring to the economic progress made in the neighbouring countries, Zardari said such laws had played a major role in the economic development of China, India, Thailand and other regional countries.

Monday, 10 September 2012

South Koreans launch leaflets against North

SEOUL: South Korean activists launched balloons carrying leaflets critical of the North’s ruling Kim family across their shared border Sunday to coincide with the regime’s 64th anniversary.

Some 10 activists including North Korean defectors in Seoul floated the 10 giant balloons carrying 200,000 small leaflets and 300 DVDs at the Imjingak park near the heavily-militarised border with the North.

“Rise up, our 20 million compatriots! Don’t be fooled by the deception of Kim Jong-Un!” read one leaflet, referring to the North’s young new leader, who took over from his father Kim Jong-Il after his death last December. Jong-Il himself took over from his own father and the North’s founding president Kim Il-Sung after his death in 1994. The family has ruled the impoverished communist state with an iron fist and pervasive personality cult for more than six decades.

The balloons also contained 1,000 US one-dollar bills aimed at encouraging North Koreans to read the leaflets despite heavy punishment by the regime when caught. “Let’s put an end to the third-generation dictatorship, and free North Koreans!” the activists chanted in unison amid heavy security involving some 100 South Korean police officers. afp

Talk increases of second Monti government in Italy

* Politicians want return to normal democracy

CERNOBBIO: Business leaders and European officials cloistered in a beautiful lakeside resort over the weekend were in striking agreement about who should follow Mario Monti as Italian premier.

Uncertainty about what will follow Monti’s technocrat government after elections next spring is worrying investors, who fear a new government led by elected politicians will try to tear up the painful reforms that have restored Italy’s credibility under Monti.

Among the elite gathered at the annual Cernobbio conference, the solution seemed obvious - a “Monti-bis” or “Monti-two” government, despite the fact that the man himself has consistently denied he is available. Outside the luxury precincts of the Grand Hotel Villa d’Este sentiments are rather different, with a majority of ordinary Italians and politicians highly suspicious of the idea. However, bankers and businessmen inside queued up to praise the sober economist’s work, which pulled Italy back from the brink of a Greek-style debt crisis after President Giorgio Napolitano appointed him to replace scandal-plagued Silvio Berlusconi last November.

Enrico Cucchiani, CEO of Intesa SanPaolo bank said it was essential that Monti stayed on. “I believe this is not only fundamental but extremely probable in the sense that alternative solutions could imply big risks for the country,” he said. More than 80 percent of the 137 bankers, businessmen and senior academics attending the meeting on the shores of Lake Como want Monti to continue his reforms next year and prevent backsliding under Italy’s squabbling politicians, according to a survey by the Italian news agency Radiocor. The atmosphere inside the hotel produced ironic headlines in some Italian newspapers, which, like politicians, accused the elites of trying to replace democracy. “Monti bis. It is already all decided,” said the leftwing il Fatto Quotidiano. “The millionaires’ club has decided. We must undercut this absurd demand that the people want to decide their future - we are in charge here,” said Berlusconi’s il Giornale under the headline: “All Monti’s slaves.”

The conference at Cernobbio can be vulnerable to the accusation that the participants are a bunch of hyper-rich elitists out of touch with the real world. The gathering is in a spectacular location on the edge of a lake dotted with millionaires’ villas including that of Hollywood actor George Clooney. This can cause resentment, even in the prosperous area of Como itself. reuters

US warns Asia-Pacific leaders over territorial rows

* Clinton urges Seoul and Tokyo to ‘lower temperature’ over sparsely populated islands

VLADIVOSTOK: Increasingly tense territorial rows in the Asia-Pacific threaten the global economy, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Sunday at the end of a leaders’ summit plagued by divisions.

The annual gathering of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) heads was meant to build goodwill in long-term efforts to tear down trade barriers within their bloc, which accounts for more than half of the world’s economic output.

While progress was made to cut tariffs on environmentally-friendly goods, and commitments renewed to fight protectionism, bitter territorial disputes disrupted the two-day event in Russia’s port city of Vladivostok. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Chinese President Hu Jintao did not hold customary talks on the summit sidelines because of a row. Similarly Noda and South Korea’s Lee Myung-Bak — both allies of Washington — shunned each other.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino also failed to meet with Hu, after declaring it his top priority beforehand. The Philippines and China have endured months of bruising diplomacy over competing claims to the South China Sea. “Now is the time for everyone to make efforts to reduce the tension and strengthen the diplomatic involvement,” Clinton, who was filling in for US President Barack Obama, told reporters as she prepared to leave Vladivostok. “This region of the world is the economic engine in what is still a fragile global economy. “It’s not in the interest of the Asian countries, it’s certainly not in the interest of the United States or the rest of the world, to raise doubts and uncertainties about the stability and peace in the region.”

Clinton urged Seoul and Tokyo to “lower the temperature” over sparsely populated islands known by Koreans as Dokdo and by Japanese as Takeshima, but controlled by South Korea and where Lee made an unprecedented visit last month. Japan’s relations have also deteriorated anew with China over competing claims to islands in the East China Sea. APEC spans the Pacific Rim, from China to Chile, and includes the world’s three biggest national economies — the United States, China and Japan — with its 21 members accounting for 44 percent of the world’s trade.

In their final summit statement, the leaders pledged to help boost the sluggish global economy by strengthening demand in their own countries, cutting public debt and committing to no new trade barriers. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hosted the two-day event, described the event as a great success. “The Vladivostok summit has once again reaffirmed the APEC economies’ commitment to the underlying principles of free trade and integration,” he told reporters. “The Asia Pacific region is a locomotive, a driving force in the world economy.” But the leaders’ statement expressed concerns over global challenges, saying the economy was “subject to downside risks”.

“The financial markets remain fragile, while high public deficits and debts in some advanced economies are creating strong headwinds to economic recovery globally. “Events in Europe are adversely affecting growth in the region,” it said, although it also welcomed European leaders’ commitment to “take all necessary measures” to prevent a break-up of the eurozone monetary union. The leaders pledged to move “more rapidly” to market-driven exchange rates and “refrain from competitive devaluation of currencies”, the document said. China is often the target of US allegations that it deliberately keeps the value of the yuan low to make Chinese exports cheaper in the global markets, although Beijing has denied any currency manipulation. afp

Culture guides to tackle Afghan insider attacks

* 5,000 copies of hastily written 28-page brochure distributed among 195,000 members of Afghan army in latest attempt to clamp down on insider attacks

KABUL: Don’t take offence if NATO soldiers exit the shower naked or ask to see a picture of your wife – it is normal and no reason to open fire, intone new cultural guidelines from the Afghan Defence Ministry.

Five thousand copies of a hastily-written 28-page brochure have been distributed among 195,000 members of the Afghan army, most of them illiterate, in the latest attempt to clamp down on a phenomenon known as insider killings.

So far this year, Afghan security personnel have shot dead at least 45 NATO soldiers, the majority of them American, threatening to jeopardise Western plans to train Afghan forces to take over when they leave in 2014.

NATO attributes around 75 percent of the attacks to grudges, misunderstandings and cultural differences, so the Afghan ministry has taken matters into their own hands with avuncular advice for soldiers, even if they can’t read.

More than 10 years after NATO troops came to Afghanistan, Western habits – like winking, swearing and raising the middle finger – need to be spelt out to make sure Afghan troops in the deeply religious country do not feel offended.

“Even minor cultural differences can cause friction and misunderstanding,” says the “Brochure for Comprehending the Culture of the Coalition Forces” before listing taboos in Afghan culture that are seen as perfectly normal in the West.

“A coalition soldier might well walk in front of someone who is praying without realising it, or put their feet up on a table or desk so that they point at people in the room – do not take offence,” the pamphlet said.

Another is blowing your nose in public. “This practice is very common among coalition member countries. If a coalition force member blows his nose in your presence do not consider it an insult.”

A further cross-cultural minefield is chatting about relatives and showing off pictures of wives and daughters. “Coalition troops may ask about the women in your family. Do not take it as an insult or humiliation, they want to be friendly. You should tell them that Afghans do not discuss their families and women with others,” the pamphlet said.

Contrary to Afghans, the booklet says NATO soldiers may wink, stick up the middle finger and exit the shower naked, but again advised Afghans not to take it personally. “Remember all misunderstandings are unintentional,” it warned.

And advice for heated moments was simple. “If you or your ISAF colleagues become angry, stay away for a while until the situation becomes normal. In that case, tell your commander to help you, and to mediate or reconcile between you and your ISAF partners,” the pamphlet reads.

The scale of insider attacks by Afghan troops against their NATO allies is unprecedented in modern warfare and threatens to derail the West’s carefully laid withdrawal plans, analysts say.

Analysts and officers agree that no other modern war, including those in Vietnam and Iraq, has seen so many cases of allies turning their weapons on international troops, but wrestle with the reasons for the phenomenon. Taliban insurgents claim responsibility for many of the attacks, saying their fighters have infiltrated the Afghan army and police, but NATO says the majority of the incidents are due to cultural differences and personal animosities.

The spike in attacks has alarmed the US-led NATO force to the extent that all soldiers have been ordered to be armed and ready to fire at any time, even within their tightly protected bases. That level of distrust undermines NATO’s plans to work increasingly closely with Afghan forces as they prepare to hand over responsibility for security ahead of the withdrawal of their troops by the end of 2014. afp

UN mission arrives to ‘trace’ missing persons

ISLAMABAD: A delegation of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) arrived in the country on Sunday on a key mission to look into the issue of missing persons. Enforced disappearances in Pakistan had reached unprecedented levels, the WGEID’s

annual report on Pakistan said while voicing concern over abductions of civilians in Balochistan and other parts of the country. It was learnt that the five-member high-level delegation headed by Olivier de Frouville would launch a 10-day official mission on enforced disappearances and hold meetings with the federal and provincial government authorities, representatives of civil society, military leadership, intelligence

agencies and family members of the missing persons to collect information about enforced disappearances in the country. After collecting information and holding meetings with families of missing persons in Balochistan and other parts of the country, the delegation would also review the measures taken by the government for recovering victims of enforced disappearances. The delegation would submit its final report to the United Nations Human Rights Council. More than 13,000 people have been abducted since the uprising began in August 2005 in Balochistan, according to the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons chairman. As the conflict in Balochistan continues, the violence has increased and enforced disappearances have become widespread. Despite the Supreme Court’s interference, political activists are increasingly being abducted and several massive attacks have targeted the dissenting voices in the province. kiyya qadir baloch

Price of diesel goes up; petrol, CNG down

* New price of HSD Rs 115.52 per litre, petrol Rs 99.90 per litre for next seven days

By Zeeshan Javaid

ISLAMABAD: Rejecting the proposal of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), the federal government on Sunday increased the prices of most consumable POL products by Rs 3.39 per litre, but decreased the prices of petrol by Rs 4.65 per litre and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) by Rs 4.25 per kilogramme with immediate effect for the next week.

According to the notification issued, the price of high speed diesel (HSD) has been increased by Rs 3.39 per litre, high octane blending component Rs 3.27 per litre, kerosene oil Rs 1.85 per litre, light diesel oil Rs 0.57 per litre, JP-1 11.04 per litre, JP-4 Rs 2.13 per litre, and JP-8 Rs 1.81 per litre. However, the price of petrol has been decreased by Rs 4.65 per litre for next seven days with immediate effect.

After the revision, the price of HSD has been increased to Rs 115.52 per litre from Rs 112.13, HOBC to Rs 136.46 per litre from 133.19, kerosene oil to Rs 104.06 per litre from Rs 102.21, LDO to Rs 99.41 per litre from Rs 98.84, JP-1 Rs 93.67 per litre from Rs 82.63, JP-4 Rs 85.60 per litre from Rs 83.47 and JP-8 Rs 93.36 per litre from Rs 91.55. Moreover, the price of petrol has decreased to Rs 99.90 per litre from the existing Rs 104.55.

Meanwhile, the All Pakistan CNG Association (APCNGA) and the government have agreed to revise the CNG price also. According to a recently agreed mechanism, the price of CNG will be maintained at 60 percent of the petrol price. So, the decrease in price of petrol has caused a decline in the price of CNG of Rs 4.25 per kilogramme in Region-1 and Rs 3.98 per kg in Region-2. The price of CNG has been decreased to Rs 91.47 per kg from Rs 95.72 in Region-1, including KP, Balochistan and Potohar region (Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Gujar Khan); and Rs 83.46 per kg from Rs 87.44 in Region-2, including the areas of Sindh and Punjab (excluding Potohar region).

All Pakistan CNG Association’s Chairman Ghayas Paracha has strongly rejected the recent increase in prices of POL products and demanded reversal of the government’s decision.

According to reports from major cities, including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Karachi, Peshawar, it was revealed that petrol pump owners immediately stopped selling fuel to consumers as soon as they got the news of mixed revision in POL prices.

Sunday, 9 September 2012

India ready to write a new chapter in relations: Krishna

* Indian FM says no precondition for Singh’s forthcoming visit to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Indian External Affairs Minister SM Krishna on Saturday said they are committed to moving forward in order to write a new chapter of peace and cooperation in their relationship. He was addressing a joint press conference after his meeting with Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar. Krishna said they were reasonably satisfied at the progress achieved in the last round of resumed dialogue. He said they had agreed that terrorism posed threat to peace and security and reaffirmed strong commitment of the two countries to fighting terrorism in an effective manner. He said Pakistan has reiterated its commitment to bring all perpetrators of Mumbai attack to justice. The Indian minister thanked President Asif Zardari for ordering release of all Indian fishermen and hoped that all the boats and other equipments of these fishermen would also be released. Krishna said the two countries had decided to convene separate meetings of the expert groups on nuclear and conventional confidence building measures in New Delhi in the second half of December this year. He said they reviewed the existing cross-LoC confidence building measures on travel and trade. Krishna said the two sides also discussed measures for promoting cooperation in various fields including facilitating visits to religious shrines, media exchanges and cessation of hostile propaganda against each other. He said the two countries are looking forward to launching of next round of secretaries-level dialogue on all eight segments. Schedule for these meetings would be worked out through diplomatic channels but these would be held before next meeting of the foreign ministers in New Delhi next year. To a question, he said Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had not attached any precondition for his forthcoming visit to Pakistan. He explained that the prime minister wanted to visit Pakistan that there should be something worthwhile will come forward for his visit. He said he would submit the report of his present visit to the premier then he would decide to finalise the date for his visit to Pakistan. staff report

Landslides, floods kill 29 in Vietnam

HANOI: Landslides and floods in Vietnam have killed at least 29 people in recent days as heavy rain soaks northern and central areas, state media and the government said on Saturday.
More rain was forecast to strike the flood-hit Nghe An province and authorities were getting people out of dangerous areas, the government said. In one incident, 16 people were killed in landslides while they were going to tin mine on Friday in the mountainous northern province of Yen Bai. Another person died in hospital, the Defence Ministry-run People’s Army newspaper said. The affected provinces are far from the Central Highlands coffee belt. Rice production in the Mekong Delta is also not affected. Vietnam is the world’s second largest coffee producer and comes second after Thailand in rice exports.
Vietnam, parts of which are densely populated and low-lying, is regularly battered by heavy weather and floods during the rainy season. An average of 430 people were killed each year by natural disasters between 2007-2011 in Vietnam, with property losses estimated at 1 percent of gross domestic product, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung told a conference on food security and climate change in Hanoi on Thursday. reuters

Bahrain govt to sue opposition over banned march

MANAMA: Authorities in Bahrain said on Saturday they would take legal action against the opposition Al Wefaq group after it held a banned anti-government march, a move the group said was the most serious action against it since mass protests last year.
The Interior Ministry said it was acting after the group went ahead with a march on Friday in Manama, the capital, during which six protesters were arrested.
“The Interior Ministry holds Al Wefaq responsible for violating the law and encouraging their supporters to participate in a non-sanctioned event,” said a statement from the ministry distributed by the government’s public relations office.
The opposition has defied government bans on demonstrations before, but this is the first time the authorities have threatened legal action since a protest movement dominated by majority Shi’ite Muslims erupted last February.
The United States has called on Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet, t o engage with the opposition and hold more talks with its representatives.
It was not immediately clear what the action might entail, but the move appeared to represent an escalation of government attempts to put pressure on Al Wefaq, a group it has threatened to ban in the past.
Opposition parties led by Al Wefaq are demanding full powers for the elected parliament so that it can legislate and form governments. Many Shi’ites complain of being politically and economically marginalised, a charge the government denies.
Police used teargas and stun grenades to break up Friday’s march, which dozens of protesters took part in.
The statement from the Interior Ministry said Al Wefaq had been told a day earlier that the protest had not been authorised and that demonstrators engaged in “the blocking of roads, vandalism and spreading fear and concerns among the business owners in the area”.
“The ministry affirms its support for free speech but reminds all citizens that freedom of expression does not include vandalism, spreading fear amongst the community and attempting to create chaos. The ministry has taken legal action to file a case against Al Wefaq,” it said. The ministry had also filed cases with the public prosecutor against the six arrested protesters, it added. “Many times they go for the illegal march, but this time they targeted the heart of the capital and that’s bad for businesses and the economy. That’s the problem,” said a government adviser who asked to remain anonymous.
He said unauthorised rallies in other parts of the country would not have prompted legal action and that he thought it unlikely any action would include banning Al Wefaq. Al Wefaq criticised the authorities for banning the march and said in an emailed statement that the riot police had used violence against peaceful protesters. reuters

Palestinian bid for UN non-member in Sept: Abbas

* Palestinians now have observer status at UN
* Abbas, Hamas trade blame over Palestinian unity

RAMALLAH: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said on Saturday he will make a bid on September 27 to obtain non-member status at the United Nations.
“We will go to the UN General Assembly for consultations with our friends on the draft resolution calling for the upgrade of Palestine (to non-member status)” in the United Nations, Abbas said in a televised address. “We are going to the UN to say that we are a state which applies the fourth Geneva Convention (on the protection of civilians in time of war). There are 133 countries that recognise us as a state with east Jerusalem as its capital and where we have embassies hoisting the Palestinian flag.”
Palestinians now have observer status at the UN. Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki said last month that Abbas would make the upgrade request on September 27 during the UN General Assembly. Palestinians are assured that the resolution will pass with a large majority. Such a resolution needs the support of more than half of the 194 UN member states.
“Owing to the automatic majority (at the General Assembly) we will not be able to prevent this decision,” Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon told Israeli public radio. “Our policy leans towards Western democratic countries. If we succeed in forming a bloc of 50 to 60 nations opposed (to the Palestinian initiative), the decision will be taken but will be void of all political significance,” he said.
In September 2011, Abbas made a high-profile effort to obtain full-member status at the UN, but the request was never put to a vote in the Security Council, where the United States had pledged to veto it. Several weeks ago, a senior official from the Palestine Liberation Organisation said Washington was pressuring the Palestinian leadership to delay its upgrade plans until after the US presidential election in November.
Meanwhile, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Hamas group ruling Gaza on Saturday each strongly denied responsibility for the failure of national reconciliation efforts. “Reconciliation means elections, and wanting to establish an independent emirate in Gaza will not work,” Abbas said in a televised speech, addressing himself directly to Hamas leaders in the Gaza enclave.
“Reconciliation will not be achieved until the electoral commission has started recording (voters) in Gaza so elections can take place three months later,” he said. Abbas also said Ismail Haniya, who heads the Hamas government in Gaza, “has no right to represent Palestine abroad as prime minister, but as a leader of Hamas,” referring to his intention to attend last month’s Non-Alignment Summit in Tehran.
Haniya abandoned the plan after Abbas threatened to boycott the gathering. Hamas on Saturday dismissed Abbas’s comments. “Abbas has completed his mandate as per the law and there is no president in the context of national (Palestinian) consensus,” Hamas spokesman Taher al-Nunu told AFP.
“Abbas is trying to raise tension against Hamas to divert public opinion from the domestic crisis,” he said, referring to social unrest in the West Bank. On July 2, the Hamas government “temporarily” halted voter registration just over a month after granting the electoral commission permission to work in the Gaza Strip. afp

Egypt, Israel in contact on Sinai security sweep

* Egyptian army says 32 killed, 38 arrested in operation

* Israel concerned over heavy military equipment in Sinai

* Fears militants gaining foothold post-Mubarak

CAIRO: Egypt and Israel are coordinating on Cairo’s biggest security sweep in decades against militants in Sinai, in which 32 people have been killed, an army spokesman said on Saturday, the first clear statement on communication between the neighbours.
Israel fears militants, possibly linked to al Qaeda, have gained a foothold in the Sinai border area since the overthrow last year of President Hosni Mubarak. Israeli officials have privately voiced concern about heavy military equipment being sent to Sinai, which is subject to restrictions on the deployment of weapons under the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.
Colonel Ahmed Mohamed Mohamed Ali told a news conference in Cairo that 32 “criminal elements” were killed and 38 suspects arrested, including non-Egyptians, during the operation which began on Aug 7. “Egypt is coordinating with the Israeli side over the presence of Egyptian armed forces in Sinai. They know this. “The deployment of the armed forces on all the territory of Sinai is not a violation of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel,” he said.
The sweep began after militants killed 16 border guards on Aug. 5 in the worst attack since Egypt’s 1973 war with Israel. Ali said the operation “will continue until its goals have been achieved ... These are not just military goals but also developmental goals for Sinai.” Bedouin tribes in the area have long complained of neglect by the central government.
Hundreds of troops with tanks, armoured vehicles and helicopters were sent to Sinai in a joint operation with police to raid militant hideouts, arrest suspects and seize weapons. The Egyptian military is replacing some of its heavy tanks in Sinai with light armoured vehicles, security sources said this week. But Ali rejected the idea that Egypt was pulling out its heavy equipment in response to pressure from Israel. He said the operation was entering a new phase that required different equipment.
“The military operation is in the interest of all sides,” he said. Asked whether Egypt was coordinating with the United States over Sinai, Ali said: “Cooperation between Egypt and the US is strategic, long-standing and goes beyond simple military operations. However, the military operations in Sinai are independent, carried out by the capabilities of the Egyptian armed forces.”
Some 31 tunnels used to smuggle goods into the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip were also destroyed, he said. The tunnel trade is central to Gaza’s economy which has suffered under an Israeli blockade on the Palestinian territory imposed in 2006. The tunnels have also been used to smuggle weapons. “We have seized arms, rockets, RPGs and automatic rifles,” Ali said.
Disorder has spread in Sinai since Mubarak was ousted in a popular uprising, with Islamist militants stepping up attacks on Egyptian security forces and the Israeli border. Egypt’s new president, Mohamed Mursi, has vowed to restore order. “The armed forces will combat thought with thought and arms with arms. We will only use weapons with those who have weapons,” Ali said.
The Egyptian government has long struggled with militancy and smuggling in the region but unrest has worsened since an uprising overthrew veteran strongman Hosni Mubarak in February last year, prompting the collapse of his discredited police force. Bedouins living in the Sinai, where most of Egypt’s luxury resorts are concentrated, had long been marginalised under Mubarak’s regime. reuters

Friday, 7 September 2012

South African militant union snubs Lonmin ‘peace deal’

* NUM signs agreement but AMCU holds out

* hopes for return to work soon

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa’s militant AMCU union refused to sign a “peace deal” with platinum company Lonmin on Thursday, undermining government-backed efforts to open pay talks and end a four-week strike scarred by deadly violence.

While Lonmin, the world’s number three platinum producer, signed the accord with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and other labour groups in the early hours, representatives of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) declined to put their names to the agreement. AMCU-affiliated miners at the Marikana platinum mine where police shot dead 34 striking rock-drill operators last month in the deadliest security incident since the end of apartheid said they were not interested in a deal that failed to include a basic wage hike to 12,500 rand ($1,500) a month - double what they now earn. “I was there to talk about 12,500 rand, not some peace accord, so we did not sign any document,” Molefi Phele, who represented striking workers, told Reuters Television.

Lonmin said it was open to talks with AMCU and striking workers on their wage demands - provided they returned to work by a Monday deadline - even though analysts say the company can ill afford such an increase. The London-headquartered company said only 1.7 percent of workers reported for duty at its South African operations on Thursday, with miners saying they have been threatened with death if they went back to their jobs. Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan told reporters he did not think the labour stand-off at Lonmin would affect the growth of Africa’s biggest economy in “any significant way.”

The strike has so far cost Lonmin about $95 million in lost output at its operations about 100 km (60 miles) northwest of Johannesburg. Lonmin shares, which had lost 25 percent of their value since Aug. 16, were up as much as 5 percent in afternoon trade in London amid hopes that the “peace deal” would open up a path to a settlement, despite AMCU’s holding out. “With this agreement the moment has arrived for AMCU and the striking workers to show whether or not they can function in a peaceful environment,” said Gideon du Plessis of the Solidarity union of skilled workers.

Marikana accounts for the vast majority of the platinum output of Lonmin, which itself accounts for 12 percent of global supply of the precious metal used in jewellery and vehicles’ catalytic converters. World platinum prices, which spiked more than 2 percent as the Marikana carnage unfolded, have continued to rise, and hit $1,584 an ounce on Thursday, the highest in nearly five months. The strike has raised worries that labour unrest in the platinum belt could spread to the gold sector. South Africa is home to 80 percent of known platinum reserves and is the world’s fourth-largest gold producer. reuters

Studios lose landmark anti-piracy suit in Australia

Australian Federation against Copyright Theft (AFACT) Managing Director Neil Gane

Mr Gane said the ruling exposed the failure of copyright law

Major film and television studios have lost a landmark case over illegal video downloads in Australia.

The High Court upheld a previous ruling that internet service provider (ISP) iiNet did not authorise copyright infringement among its customers.

US and Australian studios had wanted iiNet to stop its customers from downloading pirated material.

In 2010, a federal court had ruled in favour of iiNet, saying it did not authorise the downloads.

The court also said that the country's third-largest internet provider did not have the technical ability to prevent the piracy.

The unanimous ruling from the High Court upheld the lower court's decision.

"The High Court held that the respondent, an internet service provider (ISP), had not authorised the infringement by its customers of the appellants' copyright in commercially released films and television programmes," the court stated.

"Rather, the extent of iiNet's power to prevent its customers from infringing... copyright was limited to an indirect power to terminate its contractual relationship with its customers."

The 2010 judgment was the first time a court had ruled on whether an ISP could be held responsible for copyright violations by its users.

The case revolved around thousands of downloads over Perth-based iiNet's network in 2008 using a file-sharing programme.

The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft group, made up of 34 film, TV and music companies, had appealed the lower court decision, saying it set a dangerous precedent.

The group's managing director, Neil Gane, was quoted by news agency Agence-France Presse as saying that the ruling exposed the failure of copyright law to keep pace with the online environment.

"Both judgements in this case recognise that copyright law is no longer equipped to deal with the rate of technological change we have seen since the law of authorisation was last tested," he said.

Burma leader Thein Sein in Japan to talk investment

Burmese President Thein Sein, pictured here at the Asean summit on 4 April

President Thein Sein became Burma's leader after elections in November 2010

Burmese President Thein Sein has arrived in Japan for a five-day visit expected to focus on financial aid and debt relief.

His visit, the first to Japan by a Burmese leader in 28 years, comes as EU nations prepare to ease sanctions.

Reports said Japan was planning to resume loans to Burma.

Thein Sein's administration has embarked on a process of reform since it came to power in November 2010, ending decades of military rule.

The military-backed nominally civilian government has freed political prisoners and made concessions that have brought pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party back into the political process.

Earlier this month, her party won 43 out of the 45 seats it contested in by-elections, with Ms Suu Kyi winning a seat in parliament.

'Bold leap'

During his visit, Thein Sein will hold talks with Japanese leader Yoshihiko Noda. Officials say they will discuss a solution to Burma's debt to Japan, its biggest creditor.

This, reports the BBC's Roland Buerk in Tokyo, would open the way for Japan to resume financing much-needed infrastructure. Japanese companies are also keen to invest in Burma, which is rich in resources.

On Thursday diplomats in Brussels told the BBC they expected a "big chunk" of current EU sanctions against Burma to be suspended when foreign ministers met in Luxemburg on Monday.

According to the sources, the travel ban and asset freeze for many government officials would end. Only the arms embargo would stay in place, they said.

Aid and development money would be allowed into the country, as would investment into key parts of the economy.

The US and Australia have already eased some sanctions on Burma following the political reforms. On Thursday US Senator Jim Webb said the US should go further to reward Thein Sein's "bold leap" on reform.

"In all of these situations there's a moment in time you have to take advantage of," the senator told the Associated Press news agency. "We should have some protections in there, but we should move forward on trade."

Parliament is due to reconvene in Burma on Monday. Despite the recent poll victory of Ms Suu Kyi's party, it remains heavily dominated by the military-backed ruling party.

A quarter of the seats are also reserved for the military.

Heywood case: China 'murder cover-up began immediately'

A senior Chinese journalist has told the BBC that police knew UK man Neil Heywood had been murdered in Chongqing last November and that a cover-up began immediately.

Police panicked when they realised the case could be linked to top politician Bo Xilai and his wife, Gu Kailai.

It was only this month that authorities promised an investigation and named Ms Gu as a suspect.

Bo Xilai has been sacked, amid China's biggest political scandal in decades.

The 41-year-old British businessman was found dead in a hotel in Chongqing on 15 November. Local officials initially said he died of excessive drinking.

But police who arrived at the hotel immediately knew he had been killed, and panicked after they realised the case was linked to Mr Bo, the journalist told the BBC's Martin Patience in Chongqing.

Three of the investigators asked to resign, said Han Pingzao, a former correspondent for the People's Daily in the city.

ANALYSIS

Martin PatienceChongqing

Chongqing, the sprawling city of millions, was Bo Xilai's power base and some locals say that he ruled it like an "emperor".

The apparent murder of Neil Heywood in the city last November triggered the country's biggest political crisis in years.

The scandal led to the downfall of Mr Bo - who had been tipped to join China's top political body during the once-in-a-decade leadership change starting later this year. What had started in Chongqing suddenly became a national scandal - gripping the country.

Many of the details remain shrouded in mystery and it is almost impossible to independently verify Han Pingzao's version of events - but it is an extraordinary insight into this scandal. The Chinese authorities have told the UK government that they will conduct a full and thorough investigation into Neil Heywood's death.

But with so little transparency - and so much political intrigue - it is entirely possible that the full truth will never be known.

''They were terrified of the politician,'' Mr Han said.

'Sweating profusely'

It was at this point that former Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun became involved. In January, Mr Wang told his boss Mr Bo that he believed Ms Gu was involved in the murder.

''Bo Xilai was shocked when he heard the details,'' Mr Han said. ''He started sweating profusely.''

The flamboyant Mr Bo - the nearest thing China has to a Western-style politician - made his name in Chongqing with two high-profile campaigns. One cracked down on organised crime, the other was to promote China's communist past.

Mr Wang, who has been closely identified with Mr Bo and his rise - he was tipped to be promoted to the party's top leadership before the scandal - was responsible for the anti-crime campaign.

After half an hour, Mr Bo approached Mr Wang and held both his hands tightly. Mr Wang thought he was safe then, the journalist said, but he was not.

He was sacked and subsequently sought refuge at the American consulate in Chengdu, where he reportedly told US officials about the murder and attempted to defect.

Mr Wang was eventually persuaded to leave the consulate, emerging into the waiting arms of the police and an investigation.

'Extraordinary scenes'

The events surrounding Mr Bo and his wife have become the biggest political scandal in China in years, ahead of a leadership change in Beijing due to get under way in October.

There were ''extraordinary scenes'' on the day that Mr Bo's sacking as Chongqing party chief was announced last month, Mr Han said.

''Chongqing party officials attended sessions at various departments to hear how the central government had decided to handle the case,'' he added.

This came right after China's annual parliamentary meeting in Beijing. In a news conference at the end of the parliamentary session, Premier Wen Jiabao took - and answered - a direct question on the Wang Lijun incident.

"The present Chongqing municipal party committee and the municipal government must reflect seriously and learn from the Wang Lijun incident," he said.

While Mr Bo's name was not mentioned, the comment was understood to be a public criticism directed at him.

''There were thousands of officials going in and out all day,'' said Mr Han. ''On the same day, late in the evening, the news was broadcast to the whole country.''

A few weeks later state media reported that Ms Gu and Zhang Xiaojun, an orderly at Mr Bo's home, had been arrested. Mr Bo is also under investigation for ''serious discipline violations''.

The Chinese authorities have promised the UK government a thorough investigation into Mr Heywood's death.

THURSDAY, 19 APRIL 2012

Pakistan Judge Upholds Women’s Conversions to Islam

“A controversy over religious conversions that has captivated Pakistanis was resolved in dramatic fashion on Wednesday when a judge ruled that three Hindu women who converted to Islam under disputed circumstances had chosen to go with their new Muslim husbands, causing consternation among the families they left behind,” Salman Masood writes in The New York Times.

The Supreme Court had intervened in the three cases in recent weeks, “sequestering the women from their parents and their new husbands to consider their future without pressure,” Mr. Masood writes. “The court ruled on Wednesday that all three had freely chosen to remain Muslim.”

The decision met with heavy criticism from Hindu leaders and some rights activists, who maintained that the women were forcibly converted and that “their cases would make Pakistan’s already embattled minorities even more insecure,” he writes.

The most prominent case involved Rinkel Kumari, 19, a Hindu student who became Faryal Shah in order to marry Naveed Shah, a Muslim neighbor. In a hearing before the court on March 26, she and another woman — Lata Kumari, 29 — were given three weeks to make up their minds. Both women were then kept in a shelter in Karachi, the southern port city and provincial capital of Sindh.

During a packed hearing in the marble courtroom on Wednesday, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry ruled that both women were adults and had had ample time to decide.

“You can go wherever you choose,” Chief Justice Chaudhry said as both women, who wore black niqabs, stood quietly alongside two female police officers.

“You will get police protection. No one will be allowed to harm you.”

Woman Recounts Quarrel Leading to Agent Scandal

Prostitutes in Cartagena, Colombia, where a woman said the fee she had charged a Secret Service agent reflected her escort status.

CARTAGENA, Colombia — A Secret Service agent preparing for President Obama’s arrival at an international summit meeting and a single mother from Colombia who makes a living as a high-priced escort faced off in a room at the Hotel Caribe a week ago over how much he owed her for the previous night’s intercourse. “I tell him, ‘Baby, my cash money,’ ” the woman said in her first public comments on a dispute that would soon spiral into a full-blown scandal.

The disagreement over her price — he offered $30 for services she thought they had agreed were worth more than 25 times that — set off a tense early morning quarrel in the hallway of the luxury hotel involving the woman, another prostitute, Colombian police officers arguing on the women’s behalf and American federal agents who tried but failed to keep the matter from escalating.

On Wednesday, in a setback to the reputation of those who protect the president, the Secret Service prepared to fire one supervisor tied to the alleged misconduct with prostitutes on the Cartagena trip, the agency said in a statement. Another supervisor has decided to retire, and a third employee will be allowed to resign, the statement said. Eight other employees remain under investigation.

“These guys have the clearest cases,” said a government official briefed on the investigation, referring to the three who are being pushed out.

The employees under scrutiny have been asked to take lie detector tests; only one has agreed to do so, the official said. The supervisor who is being fired has threatened to sue, Mark Sullivan, the director of the Secret Service, has told officials.

Sitting in her living room wearing a short jean skirt, high-heeled espadrilles and a spandex top with a plunging neckline, the prostitute described how she and another woman were approached by a group of American men at a discotheque. In an account consistent with the official version of events coming out of Washington, but could not be independently confirmed, she said the men bought a bottle of Absolut vodka for the table and when that was finished bought a second one.

“They never told me they were with Obama,” she said, addressing published reports that some agents may have openly boasted to prostitutes that they were there protecting the president. “They were very discreet.”

A taxi driver who picked up the woman at the Hotel Caribe the morning of the encounter said he heard her and another woman recount the dispute over payment. When approached by a reporter for The New York Times, the woman was initially reluctant to speak about what had occurred. As she nervously told her story, a friend gave details that seemed to corroborate her account.

There was a language gap between the woman, 24, who declined to give her full name, and the American man who sat beside her at the bar and eventually invited her to his room. She agreed, stopped on the way to buy condoms but told him he would have to give her a gift. He asked how much. Not knowing he worked for Mr. Obama but figuring he was a well-heeled foreigner, she said, she told him $800.

The price alone, she said, indicates she is an escort, not a prostitute. “You have higher rank,” she said. “An escort is someone who a man can take out to dinner. She can dress nicely, wear nice makeup, speak and act like a lady. That’s me.”

By 6:30 the next morning, after being awoken by a telephone call from the hotel front desk reminding her that, under the hotel’s rules for prostitutes, she had to leave, whatever deal the two had agreed on had broken down. She recalled that the man told her he had been drunk when they discussed the price. He countered with an offer of 50,000 pesos, the equivalent of about $30.

Disgusted with such a low amount, she pressed the matter. He became angry, ordered her out of the room and called her an expletive, she said.

She said she was crying and went across the hall, where another escort had spent the night with an American man from the same group. Both women began trying to get the money.

They knocked on the door but got no response. She threatened to call the police, but the man’s friend, who appeared on the scene, begged her not to, saying they did not want trouble. Finally, she said, she left to go home but came across a police officer stationed in the hallway, who called in an English-speaking colleague.He accompanied her back to the room and the dispute escalated. Two other Americans from the club emerged from their rooms and stood guard in front of their friend’s locked door. The two Colombian officers tried to argue the woman’s case.

A hotel security officer arrived. Eventually, she lowered her demand to $250, which she said was the amount she has to pay the man who helps find her customers. Eager to resolve the matter fast, the American men eventually gave her a combination of dollars and pesos worth about $225, and she left.

It was only days later, once a friend she had shared her story with called to say that the dispute had made the television news, that she learned that the man was a Secret Service agent.

She is dismayed, she said, that the news reports described her as a prostitute, as if she walks the streets picking up just anyone.

“It’s the same, but it’s different,” she said, indicating that she is much more selective about her clients and charges much more than a streetwalker. “It’s like when you buy a fine rum or a BlackBerry or an iPhone. They have a different price.”

The woman veered between anger and fear as she told of her misadventure. “I’m scared,” she said, indicating that she did not want the man she spent the night with to get into any trouble but feared that he might retaliate.

“This is something really big,” she said. “This is the government of the United States. I have nervous attacks. I cry all the time.”

The Secret Service declined to comment on the woman’s account, but a United States official who has been briefed on the inquiry said the details were generally consistent with what agents have said. “On the whole, it’s pretty accurate,” the official said, indicating that the woman at the center of the dispute at the hotel had not yet been interviewed.

The Secret Service has expanded its investigation to look at its employees’ conduct on previous presidential trips, the person briefed on the investigation said. So far, investigators have not uncovered anything similar to what apparently happened in Colombia last week, the person said.

Besides the 11 Secret Service personnel, 10 military personnel, including explosives experts and dog handlers, are under scrutiny in a separate Pentagon investigation, officials said.

“There was no evidence that these women were seeking these guys out — that they were waiting for Secret Service agents — but all of that is being looked into,” said Representative Peter T. King, the chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security.

Mr. King, a New York Republican, who was briefed on the matter this week by Mr. Sullivan, said the Secret Service agents at the hotel had provided conflicting reports about the night’s events. “Some of them were saying they didn’t know they were prostitutes,” he said. “Some are saying they were women at the bar. I understand that there was quite a bit of drinking.”

“I fully support what Mark is doing,” Mr. King said of Mr. Sullivan. “I know that he wanted to take strong action once he had a legal basis.”

Senator Susan Collins of Maine, the senior Republican on the Homeland Security Committee, said the woman’s account generally comported with what Secret Service officials said occurred. But she noted differences in some details, including the specifics of the amount of money in dispute. “It helps the Secret Service if in fact the guy did not identify himself,” said Ms. Collins, who has raised concerns about a potential security breach.

In a letter to Mr. Sullivan, Representative Darrell Issa, Republican of California, the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and the committee’s ranking member, Elijah Cummings, Democrat of Maryland, said the Secret Service personnel in Colombia had brought “foreign nationals into contact with sensitive security information” and were potentially exposed to “blackmail and other forms of potential compromise.”

Mr. Issa and Mr. Cummings listed 10 requests for information that they want answered by May 1. “Your swift and decisive action in response to this scandal has given us confidence that the agency will complete a thorough investigation and take steps to ensure that similar lapses in judgment will never again jeopardize the important work of the U.S. Secret Service,” the representatives said.

As for cooperating with the investigators for the Secret Service who are seeking to interview the prostitutes as well as witnesses from the bar and outside the hotel room, the woman who was involved in the payment dispute said she was not interested in that. She said she was planning to leave Cartagena soon.

EU 'to suspend most Burma sanctions'

European diplomats are reported to have reached a preliminary agreement to suspend most European Union sanctions against Burma.

UK PM David Cameron meets Burmese President Thein Sein in Burma on 13 April 2012

Western leaders have welcomed the reform process in Burma and promised reciprocal steps

The final decision will be taken on Monday at a meeting of EU foreign ministers.

But senior sources in Brussels have told the BBC they expect that there will be agreement to suspend a "big chunk" of the current sanctions.

Only the arms embargo would stay in place, they said.

According to the sources, the travel ban and asset freeze for many government officials would end, reports the BBC's World Affairs correspondent Richard Galpin.

Aid and development money would be allowed into the country, as would investment into key parts of the economy - particularly the mining and logging sectors, our correspondent adds.

Exports from these industries would be allowed into the EU. There is also talk of establishing a preferential trade agreement with Burma.

Reform process

A process of reform has been under way in Burma since polls in November 2010 that brought a transition from military to nominally civilian rule.

The military-backed civilian government freed hundreds of political prisoners, including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Her NLD party - which boycotted the 2010 polls because of election laws it said were unfair - has now rejoined the political process.

Earlier this month, Aung San Suu Kyi was elected to parliament in a by-election which saw her party win 43 out of the 45 seats it contested.

The military-backed ruling party nonetheless retains a large majority in parliament, where 25% of all seats are also reserved for the military.

Thawing ties

By placing a time limit on the suspension, the EU is hoping to continue applying pressure for progress to be sustained, which could possibly include constitutional change.

Under current Burmese law Aung San Suu Kyi cannot become president because of her British husband.

The US and Australia have already eased some sanctions on Burma following the political reforms.

Japan, unlike the Western nations, did not impose tough sanctions on Burma, though it did stop offering new development loans in 2003 after Aung San Suu Kyi was detained for the third time.

It is now considering lending more money to Burma by end of fiscal year 2012, according to news agency Kyodo.

Burmese president Thein Sein is scheduled to make a five-day visit to Japan this weekend.

India Extends Missile Range, Raising Fear of Arms Race

NEW DELHI — India said Thursday that it had successfully launched a missile with nuclear capability and a range of 3,100 miles, giving it the ability to strike Beijing and Shanghai and heightening fears of an Asian arms race.

Enlarge This Image

Reuters

The Agni 5 missile was launched from Wheeler Island off the eastern coast of India on Thursday.

With the launching of the missile, called the Agni 5, India joins a small group of countries with long-range nuclear missile capability, including China, Britain, France, Russia, Israel and the United States. Agni is the Hindi word for fire.

The launching comes amid growing international apprehension about the militarization of Asia and a stepped-up strategic rivalry there between the United States and China. In March, Beijing announced a double-digit increase in military spending, and India recently became the world’s top arms buyer, displacing China, in part because China has increased it domestic production of weapons. And on Thursday, South Korea tested a missilecapable of hitting anywhere in North Korea, less than a week after North Korea launched a rocket that failed minutes after takeoff.

The missile launching in India “increases the perception of an arms race, and the reality of an arms race, in East Asia, particularly between China and India,” said Graeme P. Herd, head of the international security program at the Geneva Center for Security Policy, which trains diplomats on peace and security issues.

The timing may be seen as particularly provocative, he said, coming as China’s government deals with a scandalinvolving one of its top officials and after the United States has stepped up its military presence in the Pacific. “All of this, from the Chinese perspective, looks like a movement from balancing China to containing China,” Mr. Herd said, and could inspire Beijing to strengthen its weapons stockpile and forge closer ties with Pakistan and the Central Asian countries.

The launching was largely celebrated in India, where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called it “another milestone in our quest to add to the credibility of our security and preparedness and to continuously explore the frontiers of science.” The entire nation honors the scientists involved, he said, who have “done the country proud.”

The Indian defense minister, A. K. Antony, said India had “joined the elite club of nations” that possess long-range missiles.

The United States, which led the criticism of North Korea last Friday, appeared to warily endorse India’s missile launching. “We urge all nuclear-capable states to exercise restraint regarding nuclear capabilities,” said Mark C. Toner, a State Department spokesman. “That said, India has a solid nonproliferation record.” India has a “no-first-use” policy.

China’s immediate reaction was subdued. At a regularly scheduled news briefing, Liu Weimin, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said that India and China were “not competitors, but partners,” according to news agencies. The two countries should “work hard to uphold friendly strategic cooperation” for peace and stability in the region, he said.

The missile “does not pose a threat in reality,” China’s state-run broadcaster CCTV said, according to The Associated Press. The news channel questioned the accuracy of the missile’s guidance systems and its 50-ton-plus weight, which the Chinese said would force it to be launched from a fixed location, making it an easy target. India said the missile can be launched from a mobile platform.

Officials in Pakistan, India’s nuclear-armed neighbor and historic rival, did not return calls for comment. The countries have recently increased trade ties, raising hopes that the longstanding tensions between the two may be ending.

The Indian missile’s range would include Tehran, parts of Eastern Europe and Manila. But the focus of the test appeared to be China, analysts said.

“Agni 5 will give India complete coverage of targets in China,” Poornima Subramaniam, an Asia-Pacific armed forces analyst at IHS Jane’s Defense, said in an e-mail. “Agni 5 technologically narrows the missile gap between India and China, while the strategic balance between the two rivals is still tipped in China’s favor.”

The launching of the Agni 5, from an island off India’s east coast, is part of a missile program that began decades ago.

India started its missile development program in 1983. It has suffered occasional setbacks, but last November, it tested the Agni 4, which can hit targets up to 2,200 miles away. It will soon be given to the army for operational use; the Agni 1, Agni 2 and Agni 3 were also given to the army.

The Agni 5 weighs about 50 tons and is 51 feet long. It reached an altitude of about 430 miles in this test, the Indian government said. The Agni 5 will be ready for operational use by 2014.

“We have achieved exactly what we wanted to achieve in this mission,” Avinash Chandra, mission director for the test, told the Times Now news channel on Thursday.

China has a missile that can hit targets at least 6,200 miles away, and Pakistan’s missile range is at least 744 miles. “India has two nuclear-armed adversaries and needs to create minimal deterrence,” said Wing Cmdr. Ajey Lele, a specialist in strategic technologies at the government-financed Institute of Defense Studies and Analysis in New Delhi.

Some in India questioned spending so much on a sophisticated missile program as hundreds of millions of the country’s citizens continue to live in extreme poverty.

“It is ridiculous,” said Praful Bidwai, a researcher and columnist associated with the Coalition of Nuclear Disarmament and Peace. “We are getting into a useless arms race at the expense of fulfilling the need of poor people.”

The Chinese missile program is not directed at India, and the Chinese have assured India of that, he said, adding, “Now, the India missile program is clearly directed to China.”

Sruthi Gottipati and Nikhila Gill contributed reporting from New Delhi, and Kevin Drew from Hong Kong.

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