The New Nation - Internet Edition

Pakistan coalition may woo Musharraf allies

AFP, Islamabad

The party of Pakistan's slain former premier Benazir Bhutto said Sunday it may woo President Pervez Musharraf's allies to join a coalition government that could drive the former general from power.

The Pakistan People's Party (PPP), which won the most seats in last week's election and has teamed up with the party of ex-premier Nawaz Sharif, say they are considering working with the Karachi-based Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).

If a PPP-led coalition manages to muster a two-thirds majority in parliament, it could seek to remove Musharraf, either by impeaching him or having his election as president last year declared illegal.

PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar told AFP that his party was in talks with the pro-Musharraf MQM, which participated in government from 2002 to 2007 and enjoys large support in southern Sindh province, a traditional PPP stronghold. "The Pakistan People's Party wants to take all political forces along to form the government and is discussing the possibility of cooperating with the MQM," Babar said.

"Consultations are going on within the party and there are different opinions about whether to cooperate with MQM or not, but nothing has been finalised," Babar said.

He refused to reveal the coalition's plans for Musharraf, who has become intensely unpopular in Pakistan as basic commodity prices soar and deadly attacks blamed on Al-Qaeda and Taliban rebels escalate.

The elections were overshadowed by the death of PPP leader Bhutto, who was killed in a suicide attack in December that the government has pinned on an Al-Qaeda-linked warlord based in Pakistan's troubled tribal region.

Cries of "Go, Musharraf, Go!" have been ringing out on the streets of Pakistan since his allies in the Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) took a drubbing in the elections.

"You cannot impeach him right now because you don't have two-thirds majority in the National Assembly and the Senate. Since we cannot do it now, there is no need to say anything about it," Babar said.

Musharraf is seen in Washington as a bulwark against terrorism, and officials in the administration of US President George W. Bush say they hope to keep working with the president. Sharif, however, has widely criticised US support for Musharraf, and his party's spokesman Siddique-ul Farooq told AFP on Sunday that Washington was urging the PPP not to remove Musharraf.

"There is a lot of back-channel diplomatic pressure on the PPP to join hands with the PML-Q as the Bush administration does not want Musharraf's ouster," he said.

"But the people of Pakistan will never forgive any deviation of their verdict now," he added.

Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), which finished a close second to the PPP in the polls, has said their priority is to restore 63 top judges, including chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, sacked by Musharraf under the powers of emergency rule last year.

If Chaudhry, who remains under house arrest, gets his job back, he could overturn Musharraf's November presidential election victory and remove him from office.

Musharraf and the PML-Q have vowed not to try and upend the democratically-elected government, but the embattled president, who seized power in a coup in 1999, has refused to step down.

Currently the PPP has cobbled together a coalition with the PML-N and the Awami National Party (ANP), a small ethnic Pashtun secular grouping which defeated hardline Islamic parties in the country's insurgency-hit northwest.

The PPP and PML-N have ruled out joining forces with the PML-Q.

They are currently weighing their choice for prime minister, with PPP loyalist Makhdoom Amin Fahim, the party's respected vice president, widely expected to be nominated.

Turkish raids kill 35 Kurdish militants in Iraq; Gates calls for short campaign

AFP, Cizre

Turkish troops killed 35 and destroyed rebel hideouts in northern Iraq as US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday he hopes Turkey keeps its ground campaign short.

Speaking as he wound up a visit to Australia, Gates also urged Turkey to do more to reconcile with its Kurdish minority

"In terms of the current operations, I would hope that it would be short, that it would be precise and avoid the loss of innocent life and that they leave as quickly as they can accomplish the mission," Gates told reporters in Canberra.

Asked how short, he said, "The shorter the better."

The three-day old offensive in northern Iraq has by the Turkish military's account killed 79 members of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) and drawn warnings from Iraq's foreign minister that it risked destabilising the country.

Gates, who travels next week to Ankara, said he did not think Iraq's stability was threatened by the Turkish operations, and he said Turkey has suffered from PKK attacks on Turkish troops and civilians in its territory.

But he said Turkey should show respect for Iraqi sovereignty by being more open with the Iraqi and Kurdish regional governments about its plans and intentions.

"I think there can always be improvement in the timeliness and the depth of the dialogue. I think it can't just be a one-time event. There has to be an ongoing dialogue," he said.

Gates cited the counter-insurgency lessons the United States has learned in Afghanistan and Iraq in urging Turkey to complement its military operations with initiatives aimed at addressing Kurdish grievances and eliminate popular support for the PKK.

Israeli strike kills 3 more Palestinians

AFP, Gaza City

An Israeli missile strike in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanun killed three Palestinians near the border fence with Israel on Saturday, a Palestinian hospital official said.

Israel confirmed the attack amid confused reports on the identities of the three men.

Doctor Muawiya Hassanein, the director of Gaza emergency medical services, initially said the men were militants because of the location of the strike.

But he later identified them as Mohammed al-Zaanin, Ibrahim Abu Jarad, and Mohammed Hassanein, employees at the Bank of Jordan, who were picnicking near the border with Israel when the missile struck.

"They were in an area near the border and they were having lunch outside. They were not militants, but civilians," Hassanein told AFP.

Hillary turns up heat to rescue White House bid

AFP, Washington

The US presidential race turned more aggressive Sunday after Hillary Clinton launched a scathing attack on Democratic rival Barack Obama in a bid to restore her front-runner status. After a day of denying that a series of 11 straight losses to Obama left her campaign teetering on the edge of defeat, Clinton changed to a sharper tone and went on the offensive, accusing him of borrowing Republican tactics to criticize her health care and trade positions. "Shame on you, Barack Obama," Clinton said Saturday during a campaign rally in Ohio, which along with the southern state of Texas holds key Democratic nominating contests on March 4. "It is time you ran a campaign consistent with your messages in public. That's what I expect from you. Meet me in Ohio. Let's have a debate about your tactics and your behavior in this campaign."

Cuba to name new leader to succeed Fidel Castro

Reuters, Havana

Cuba's rubber-stamp National Assembly will name Fidel Castro's successor on Sunday, ending the 49-year rule of the bearded revolutionary who turned Cuba into a communist state on America's doorstep. His brother Raul Castro, who has been running Cuba since the 81-year-old leader was sidelined by illness 19 months ago, is widely expected to become the next president. The 614-member legislature meets at 10 a.m. EST. An announcement on composition of the Council of State, the island's highest executive body, is expected in the afternoon. Fidel Castro, who has aged from a military fatigue-clad commander in chief who gave seven-hour speeches under the Caribbean sun into a shuffling old man, has not appeared in public since undergoing intestinal surgery in July 2006. He will retain significant but potentially waning influence as first secretary of the ruling Communist Party. Castro announced his retirement as president last Tuesday, almost half a century after he ousted a U.S.-backed dictator in an armed revolution and began to create a persona that would turn him into an icon of the left, a perpetual thorn in Washington's side and a tyrant to his foes.

Israel PM to discuss Iran on rare Japan visit

AFP, Jerusalem

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday headed to Japan on a rare visit expected to focus on bilateral economic ties as well as efforts to halt Iran's controversial nuclear drive. During the three-day trip -- the first official visit by an Israeli premier to Japan in 10 years -- Olmert will hold talks with Emperor Akihito, his counterpart Yasuo Fukuda and Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura. The visit will take place under tight security following the killing of a senior Hezbollah leader in Damascus two weeks ago. The Shiite group blamed the killing on Israel, which denied any involvement. The Israeli premier, a former finance minister, will be accompanied by businessmen and officials seeking to bolster commercial ties between the Jewish state and the world's second largest economy. Olmert will also press his hosts to stop buying Iranian-produced petrol in order to keep economic and diplomatic pressure on Tehran, a government officials said.

Greek Cypriots vote for new President

Reuters, Nicosia

Greek Cypriots voted to elect a new president on Sunday, with both candidates saying they want to relaunch peace talks to reunite the war-partitioned island that are crucial to Turkey's hopes of joining the EU. The runoff between Communist leader Demetris Christofias, 62, and right-wing backed Ioannis Kassoulides, 59, follows the surprise first-round defeat of incumbent Tassos Papadopoulos, who opposed a 2004 U.N. plan to reunify the Mediterranean state. Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. (12 a.m. EST). Voting was scheduled to end at 5 p.m. (10 a.m. EST), with final results expected by 1730 GMT (12:30 p.m. EST). Just over half a million people in the Greek Cypriot south of Cyprus were eligible to vote. "Voting started on time and we do not anticipate any problems," said chief election official Lazaros Savvides.

Philippine leader says corruption probe to spare no one

AFP, Manila

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo on Sunday firmly denied her family profited from government deals and vowed she would spare no one if they are found guilty of corruption. The statement came as security forces prepared for a massive anti-government protest on Monday to push for Arroyo's resignation amid a scandal linking her spouse, Jose Miguel Arroyo, and a political ally to an aborted telecoms deal. "I am not perfect, but I have worked everyday to achieve positive and lasting change for the nation," Arroyo said, stressing that she would not allow corruption to erode economic gains. "I guarantee that whoever is found guilty will be made to answer," Arroyo said. "We will hold officials accountable if they are found to be corrupt. We will spare no one as investigations are concluded and friend and foe alike are brought to account for their actions in the proper courts."