The New Nation - Internet Edition

Russia warns NATO transit to Afghanistan at risk

AFP, London

NATO should not be able to use Russian routes to transit supplies and equipment to Afghanistan because Russia has suspended military co-operation with the Western alliance, the country's ambassador to Kabul argued in an interview published Tuesday.

Speaking to The Times from the Afghan capital, Zamir Kabulov said increased tensions between Russia and West over the former's recent assault on Georgia could lead Moscow to review other such agreements.

Asked by the newspaper if Russia's suspension of military co-operation with NATO invalidated an April agreement on the transit of supplies to Afghanistan, Kabulov said: "Of course. Why not? If there is a suspension of military cooperation, this is military cooperation."

"No one with common sense can expect to co-operate with Russia in one part of the world while acting against it in another," he added.

He insisted, however, that Russia was not seeking to derail NATO efforts in Afghanistan, telling The Times: "It's not in Russia's interests for NATO to be defeated and leave behind all these problems."

"We'd prefer NATO to complete its job and then leave this unnatural geography.

"But at the same time, we'll be the last ones to moan about NATO's departure."

NATO leads the 53,000-strong International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which is tasked with spreading the influence of Kabul's weak central government across the country.

But five years after taking charge, ISAF is struggling to defeat a tenacious Taliban-led insurgency, in part commanded from across the porous mountain border with Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Amid allegations that large numbers of civilians have died in recent raids and airstrikes by foreign forces, President Hamid Karzai's government has demanded a review of the presence of U.S. and NATO troops in the country.

The government Monday ordered its foreign affairs and defense ministries to review the presence of foreign troops, regulate their presence with a status of forces agreement and negotiate a possible end to "air strikes on civilian targets, uncoordinated house searches and illegal detention of Afghan civilians."

The harshly worded statement appears to be aimed at both international forces operating in Afghanistan: the U.S.-led coalition, which conducts special forces counterterrorism operations and trains the fledgling Afghan army and police, and the U.N.-mandated NATO-led force tasked to provide security for the war-ravaged nation.

Capt. Mike Windsor, a spokesman for the NATO-led force, said they have seen media reports but have not received "any official notification so far."

"NATO's t mission is based on a UN mandate and carried upon the invitation of the Afghan government," Windsor said. There was no immediate comment from the U.S.-led coalition.

The government's decision follows a weekend clash and airstrikes in western Afghanistan, in which Afghan officials say some 90 civilians, including women and children, were killed.

Pakistan turmoil deepens after coalition split

AFP, Islamabad

Pakistan's political turmoil deepened Tuesday after the two main parties in the ruling coalition split, weakening the fragile government just a week after president Pervez Musharraf resigned.

The world's only nuclear-armed Islamic nation, already facing a fresh campaign of bombings by a resurgent militant movement, now faces the prospect of a bitter political battle over the choice of Musharraf's successor.

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif pulled his party out of the coalition on Monday, saying they were moving to the opposition because of what he said were the broken promises of the other main party's leader, Asif Ali Zardari.

He said Zardari had gone back on a pledge to reinstate dozens of judges sacked last year by Musharraf-an issue that has been at the centre of a political dispute in Pakistan for the past year.

"We have taken this decision after we failed to find any ray of hope and none of the commitments made to us were fulfilled," Sharif said on Monday. "This situation forced us to withdraw our support."

Zardari, in a televised address late Monday, appealed for Sharif's return to the government. "We are sad over Nawaz Sharif's decision. We want to move together and solve the problems facing the nation," he said. "We will request Nawaz Sharif to return to the government."

Lawyers meanwhile called for a nationwide protest on Thursday to demand the reinstatement of the judges, who were pushed out as Musharraf purged his opponents in the judiciary last year.

Sharif's PML-N party has now put forward its own candidate to challenge Zardari, widower of another former premier, Benazir Bhutto, on September 6, when lawmakers will select who will be the next president.

Protests in Indian Kashmir despite curfew: police

AFP, Srinagar

Indian police used teargas and gunfire to disperse hundreds of protesters in Kashmir on Tuesday as the death toll among defiant demonstrators rose to five, officials said.

Officers said they also used batons as protesters broke a curfew and gathered in southern Achabal village a day after four people were killed in police shootings and over 100 injured in clashes as the restrictions were flouted.

One of the injured died in hospital Tuesday, doctors said.

"A strict curfew remains in force all over the Kashmir valley," police officer Pervez Ahmed said in summer capital Srinagar, as New Delhi tried to end a series of major demonstrations against its rule in the mainly Muslim region.

The latest troubles were triggered by a state government plan made public in June to donate land to a Hindu shrine trust in the Kashmir valley. The decision was later reversed after massive Muslim protests, angering Hindus.

The crackdown prevented a planned rally on Monday by separatists in Srinagar's historic Red Square.

Ahead of the scheduled event, authorities arrested two leading separatists and detained a third as he tried to march towards the venue.

The three-Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik-have recently led some of the largest pro-independence demonstrations since armed militants launched an insurgency against Indian rule in 1989. Since June, at least 37 Muslims and three Hindus have died in police shootings on protesters in the Kashmir valley and the mainly Hindu area of Jammu.

India, US begin reworking draft nuclear deal

Reuters, New Delhi

The United States and India began reworking a draft agreement to win approval from a global nuclear trade bloc that has been sceptical of the two nations' proposed civilian nuclear deal, officials said on Monday.

A 45-nation meeting on whether to lift a ban on nuclear trade with India ended inconclusively last week after many members wanted to attach conditions, like trying to ban further nuclear tests by the Asian power.

The deal would allow India access to nuclear technology and fuel, overturning a three-decade ban on trade after India tested nuclear weapons in 1974. The countries in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) will meet again on Sept. 4-5, when the United States is expected to rework the draft for a waiver breaking the nuclear trade embargo.

"The ball has been set rolling," an Indian foreign ministry official said when asked if the two countries had begun reworking the draft. "Our foreign secretary is in the U.S. and the two delegations have been meeting."

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher met Indian officials on Monday but refused to answer questions on what changes were likely in the U.S. draft.

He hinted last week that the two sides were open to accommodating some changes in the draft so long as they did not impede the bilateral pact.

Washington says it was committed to getting the draft past the NSG as soon as possible.

"The United States and India will continue our vigorous joint advocacy for the initiative at the highest levels of NSG government," David C. Mulford, U.S. Ambassador to India, said.

Diplomats say conditions tabled at the NSG included intrusive U.N. inspections of Indian civilian nuclear sites; cancellation of any waiver if India tests bombs again; and periodic reviews of Indian compliance with the exemption.

India says it will not agree to any conditions to get an NSG approval.

North Korea to suspend nuclear disablement

Reuters, Seoul

North Korea said on Tuesday it would suspend disablement of its nuclear facilities and consider restoring the Yongbyon nuclear reactor, accusing the United States of violating a disarmament deal.

"We have decided to immediately suspend disabling our nuclear facilities," the North's KCNA news agency quoted a foreign ministry official as saying. "This measure has been effective on August 14 and related parties have been notified of it," the official said.

Regional powers have been pressing North Korea to accept stringent measures to verify the declaration it made in July of its nuclear program. The United States has put off taking the North off its list of state sponsors of terrorism until there is agreement on verification. The announcement comes after comments on Monday by the U.S. envoy for nuclear talks with the communist state that he had "substantive" talks with his North Korean counterpart.

Protesters seize Thai state TV

Reuters, Bangkok

Thousands of royalist protesters stormed Thai state broadcaster NBT on Tuesday, halting programming, as a part of demonstrations to try to overthrow the elected coalition government.

NBT journalists abandoned their studio in favor of a room at the Bangkok Traffic Police headquarters, from where they resumed transmission after an hour of disruption.

"We can't broadcast from the Vibhavadi headquarters as there are 5,000 protesters on the premises," NBT chief Suriyong Hoonthasarn told Reuters.

The stock market fell two percent at the opening bell amid fears of clashes between demonstrators and police, although it was down 1.55 percent by 0400 GMT, broadly in line with other bourses in the region.

Civilian casualties spur Afghanistan demands

AP, Kabul

Amid allegations that large numbers of civilians have died in recent raids and airstrikes by foreign forces, President Hamid Karzai's government has demanded a review of the presence of U.S. and NATO troops in the country.

The government Monday ordered its foreign affairs and defense ministries to review the presence of foreign troops, regulate their presence with a status of forces agreement and negotiate a possible end to "air strikes on civilian targets, uncoordinated house searches and illegal detention of Afghan civilians."

The harshly worded statement appears to be aimed at both international forces operating in Afghanistan: the U.S.-led coalition, which conducts special forces counterterrorism operations and trains the fledgling Afghan army and police, and the U.N.-mandated NATO-led force tasked to provide security for the war-ravaged nation.

Capt. Mike Windsor, a spokesman for the NATO-led force, said they have seen media reports but have not received "any official notification so far."

Suu Kyi fails to pick up food delivery in Myanmar

AP, Yangon

Myanmar's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi failed to retrieve food delivered to her home amid speculation she may have launched a hunger strike.

Nyan Win, spokesman for the National League for Democracy, said Tuesday he could not confirm whether Suu Kyi was refusing to eat, but said bags of food delivered Monday to a checkpoint outside her heavily guarded house were not picked up. Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for 13 of the past 19 years, and she relies on the NLD's food deliveries for survival. It remains unclear whether Suu Kyi has launched a hunger strike since her supporters are barred from meeting her. Burmese dissident groups based in neighboring Thailand said Monday she began a hunger strike on Aug. 15 and hasn't accepted food since. "If Daw Aung San Suu Kyi continues to refuse food from her comrades, her health will be of serious concern," one group, the National League for Democracy (Liberated Area), said in a statement.

New trouble for Japan PM as minister in hot water

AFP, Tokyo

Japan's farm minister faced calls Tuesday to explain himself or resign in a money scandal, dealing a potential new blow to beleaguered Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.

Seiichi Ota, a brash-speaking heavyweight appointed just this month in a reshuffle, admitted his political support group booked office expenses of 23.45 million yen (214,000 dollars) despite working out of his secretary's house.

The office of the group, meant to help Ota during elections, was in an unmarked house, raising suspicions that there could be hidden funds.

The incident had a hint of political deja vu for the farm ministry, which saw three ministers replaced in 2007 due to money scandals, including one who committed suicide.

"I've been disclosing this information for years because I see no problem," Ota told a news conference.

Iraqi leader insists on deadline for troop pullout

AP, Baghdad

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki dug in his heels Monday on the future of the US military in Iraq, insisting that all foreign soldiers leave the country by a specific date in 2011 and rejecting legal immunity for American troops.

Despite the tough words, al-Maliki's aides insisted a compromise could be found on the two main stumbling blocks to an accord governing the U.S. military presence in Iraq after a United Nations mandate expires at the end of the year.

Last week, U.S. and Iraqi officials said the two sides agreed tentatively to a schedule that includes a broad pullout of combat troops by the end of 2011 with the possibility that a residual U.S. force might stay behind to continue training and advising Iraqi security services.

US Secretary of State presses Mideast peace talks

AFP, Jerusalem

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was to meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders Tuesday to spur US-backed peace talks having said reaching a full deal by the end of the year would be tough.

Rice was to hold talks with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and former Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qorei, who head their respective negotiating teams, before meeting with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in the West Bank.

At the start on Monday of her 18th visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories in the past two years, Rice welcomed Israel's release of nearly 200 Palestinian prisoners but urged both sides to take more steps to build confidence.

"We continue to have the same goal which is to reach agreement by the end of the year," Rice told reporters travelling with her on the plane from Washington to Tel Aviv.

1 million cut off by monsoon floods in India

AP, Patna

Authorities struggled Monday to get aid to more than 1 million people stranded by floods in a north Indian state, with one local government leader describing the situation as a catastrophe.

Air force helicopters and troops were trying to get food to people in the stricken areas of Bihar state that were inundated by flood waters last week after torrential rains caused the Kosi river in neighboring Nepal to burst its banks. The Bihar state government issued a plea to relief agencies to step in and help get food and shelter to the residents. "It is not a normal flood, but a catastrophe," said Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar after making an aerial survey of the ravaged districts. Kumar said more than 1 million people were cut off from the rest of the country because the floods had washed away roads and made railway lines impassable.