Archive for December, 2006
Saturday, December 30th, 2006
| Dec 29 - A US official has confirmed Saddam Hussein has been executed by hanging.
The event was filmed but it was unclear when or if images would be shown to help convince Iraqis Saddam is dead.
Saddam’s hanging followed his conviction by an Iraqi court on charges he ordered the killing of Shi-ites in an Iraqi town after militants tried to assassinate him there in 1982.
Pavithra George reports.
source REUTERS.
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Friday, December 29th, 2006
| Karachi, Dec 29 (PTI) Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz today said a resolution of the Kashmir issue was needed to ensure long-lasting peace in the region.
The issue must be resolved in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people, he said at a meeting with Premier of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir Sardar Attique Ahmad Khan.
Aziz said the just settlement of Kashmir issue will not only enable Pakistan and India to leverage their full economic potential, but also help in bringing about a qualitative improvement in the lives of their peoples, according to an official statement here.
The Prime Minister expressed satisfaction over normalcy gradually returning to the earthquake-affected areas of PoK and said the government was focusing on programmes to enable the people earn their livelihood on permanent basis in a respectable manner.
Reconstruction was a major challenge and the results achieved with the help of donors, NGOs and government agencies were encouraging, he said. PTI
source PTI.
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Thursday, December 28th, 2006
| By Tabassum Zakaria
CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - President George W. Bush met with top advisers at his Texas ranch on Thursday to hash out a new Iraq strategy that he plans to unveil next month to an American public weary of the war.
Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and national security adviser Stephen Hadley attended the session.
Bush will make a statement to reporters at about 12:30 p.m. EST (1730 GMT), the White House said.
As criticism mounts over his handling of the war, among the options Bush has been considering is a short-term “surge” in U.S. forces to help contain rampant violence. There are currently 134,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.
The Pentagon announced on Wednesday it would send about 3,500 troops to Kuwait to serve as a standby force for use in Iraq or elsewhere in the region.
Democrats say November elections in which they took control of Congress from Bush’s Republican Party reflected public discontent with the Iraq war and desire for change.
But Bush, who prides himself on sticking to decisions, has brushed aside a proposal from a bipartisan panel to ask U.S. foes Iran and Syria for help in stabilizing Iraq and is said to be looking closely at a temporary troop increase.
Sen. Joseph Biden, the Delaware Democrat who will be the next chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and other Democrats already have expressed opposition to a troop increase.
John Edwards, the Democratic vice presidential candidate in 2004 who now says his vote for the Iraq war was a mistake, called for the United States to begin withdrawing troops rather than “escalating” the conflict by sending more troops.
Edwards, a former North Carolina senator who on Thursday announced his bid for the presidency in 2008, said the problem in Iraq was “not one that’s susceptible to a military solution.”
The White House suggested Democrats and other critics should hold their fire until they hear Bush’s recommendations.
“I hope that Senator Biden would wait to hear what the president has to say before announcing what he’s opposed to,” spokesman Scott Stanzel said.
“President Bush will talk soon to our troops, to the American people and to the Iraqi people about the new way forward in Iraq that will lead to a democratic and unified country that can sustain, govern, and defend itself,” he said.
Former Republican President Gerald Ford, who died on Tuesday, said in a 2004 interview embargoed until after his death that he thought Bush and his top advisers made a “big mistake” in their justification for invading Iraq.
Ford told Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward he would have “maximized our effort through sanctions, through restrictions, whatever, to find another answer.”
As Bush considers a shift in strategy to contain the violence in Iraq, where scores of civilians die daily, supporters of Saddam Hussein threatened to retaliate if the ousted Iraqi leader is executed.
An Iraqi appeals court this week upheld Saddam’s death sentence for crimes against humanity and said it should be carried out within 30 days.
Gates met with Bush last weekend at the Camp David presidential retreat after visiting Iraq to get a first-hand assessment as the new defense secretary. He took over from Donald Rumsfeld, one of the main architects of the Iraq war.
Bush last week said he was reviewing all options, including a short-term surge in troops. “We’re looking at all options, and one of those options of course is increasing more troops, but in order to do so there must be a specific mission that can be accomplished with more troops,” Bush said.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
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Wednesday, December 27th, 2006
| London, Dec 27 (PTI) NRI steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal has made it clear that he is not keen on becoming Chairman of Arcelor-Mittal next year and the world’s largest steel producer could start looking for an outside non-executive chairman when Joseph Kinsch retires.
“I don’t have the aim of being the Chairman,” Mittal, President and Chief Executive of the company, told The Financial Times.
When Mittal Steel finalised the 18 billion pounds purchase of Arcelor, Mittal had indicated that he would become Chairman when Kinsch retires next year. But since then he had become Chief Executive after Roland Junck, a former Arcelor manager appointed in August, was moved aside last month.
Though he admitted that he could do both the job as Chief Executive and Chairman, Mittal said “I don’t have the aim of being the Chairman.” To address concerns that Mittal would have too much control if he took on both roles, the steel group, producing 110 million tonnes steel per annum, could start a search for an outsider to share some power with Mittal who owns 45 per cent of the company. His son Aditya Mittal is in place as the group’s finance chief.
Another possibility, Mittal said, was that Kinsch — formerly Arcelor chairman — could continue beyond his intended retirement date. PTI
source PTI.
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Tuesday, December 26th, 2006
Islamabad, Dec 26 (PTI) Ruling out any quick-fix solution to Kashmir, Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri has said the vexed issue needs to be addressed in accordance with the wishes of the people of the region.
In an interview to the Geo TV channel yesterday, Kasuri said there is no possibility of a sudden announcement of any solution to the issue of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Our Constitution too provides that any solution to this issue is to be made in accordance with the wishes of the people of the region, who are the actual party in this conflict,” he said.
The final decision on Kashmir would be taken by the Parliament, he said, adding that there was no concrete step on the issue yet and only ideas were being floated for brainstorming on both sides of border.
The foreign minister, however, maintained that there were some hurdles in the way of settlement of the Siachen and Sir Creek issues. He was referring to the on-going talks between Pakistan and India on these issues.
A political will was needed to reach final agreement on these issues, he said.
On the Iran, Pakistan, India gas pipeline, Kasuri said he made it clear to the Iranian leadership during his Tehran visit that they needed to fix some benchmark on the pricing.
An international consultant had made his recommendations in this regard but the pricing issue needs to be taken into consideration by the three sides again, he said. PTI
source PTI.
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Monday, December 25th, 2006
Chennai, Dec 25 (PTI) Indian doubles ace Mahesh Bhupathi has pulled out of the Chennai ATP Open tennis due to tendonitis of the right wrist.
A press release from the organisers said the Indian, who has been training in London since the Doha Asian Games, developed “a niggle” in his wrist during training.
Doctors have advised Bhupathi rest for four-five days after which his rehabilitation and training will begin.
Earlier in the day, a press release had said Mahesh would be partnering Simon Aspelin of Sweden in doubles in the January 1-7 event.
Bhupathi, who is world number 30 in doubles ranking, did not play in the tournament last year.
Four-time doubles winner Leander Paes has already skipped the event and has decided to play in the Doha Open with his regular partner Martin Damm of Czech Republic.
This is the first time both Paes and Bhupathi will not be seen in action at the Chennai Open. PTI
source PTI.
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Saturday, December 23rd, 2006
Wagah (Amritsar), Dec 23 (PTI) Pakistan today released 70 Indians including 50 fishermen, languishing in different jails there, and they crossed over to India through the Wagah border.
They were handed over to the Border Security Force at the Joint Check Post here this evening, officials said.
Yesterday, India had repatriated 57 Pakistani nationals. PTI
source PTI.
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Thursday, December 21st, 2006
New Delhi, Dec 21 (PTI) Seeking to reassure India that the US will not shift goalposts on the civil nuclear deal, President George W Bush today spoke to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who said India still has “some concerns” but both the leaders hoped these would be addressed in the next stage of negotiations.
During the telephonic conversation, Singh told the President that “India still has some concerns, though many have been addressed” in Bush’s signing statement, PM’s Media Adviser Sanjaya Baru said.
“Both leaders expressed the hope that remaining concerns will be addressed in the next stage of negotiation”, he said.
The telephonic call from Bush came two days after he made it clear that the legislation he signed on Monday did not mean he endorsed all its contents and that he considered certain portions like seeking to restrict fissile material production and transfers of enrichment technology as merely “advisory”.
Both Bush and Singh expressed happiness at the “strengthening” of the bilateral relations highlighted in the US President’s initiative to amend American laws to enable bilateral civil nuclear cooperation, which received strong bipartisan support in the US Congress.
With Christmas and New Year round the corner, the Prime Minister conveyed the season’s greetings to the President and Mrs Bush.
Ending India’s 30-year-old nuclear isolation, Bush on Monday last signed the Henry J Hyde India-US Peaceful Energy Act allowing civilian nuclear trade with New Delhi, saying the step would make the world safer. PTI
source PTI.
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