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India, Pakistan Expel Envoys NEW DELHI / ISLAMABAD: India on Saturday asked the charge d'affaires of the Pakistani high commission, Syed Jaleel Abbas Geelani, to leave the country within 48 hours in view of "activities incompatible with his official status", and Pakistan, in a tit-for-tat action, expelled India's charge d'affaires Sudhir Vyas and four others. India said that Pakistan's decision to expel Indian diplomats was a "pure and simple act of retaliation which was expected". Speaking to newspersons in New Delhi, external affairs ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said that "Syed Ibn Abbas, counsellor in the Pakistan high commission, was summoned to the ministry today. It was conveyed to him that Syed Abbas Geelani, charge d'affaires, has been found indulging in activities incompatible with his official status." He said that "his withdrawal from India is sought within the next 48 hours. It was also conveyed that the Government did not intend any downgradation in the level of representation of the CDA, and would be ready to give a visa at the earliest to his replacement." Sarna said that besides Geelani, four other mission staff officials, who are not diplomats, had been asked to return home. "On this and some other occasions and keeping in mind the seriousness with which the Government of India assessed the present activity, the Centre also sought the recall of four other officials of the Pakistani high commission." These officials, Habib-ur-Rehman, Aftab Ahmed, Abdul Razzaq and Mohammad Nazir, were also found involved "in activities incompatible with their official status on this and some other occasions." Two Hurriyat leaders, Anju Zamrooda Habib and Shabir Ahmed Dar, were arrested on Wednesday and remanded to 10 days in custody by a Delhi court on Friday for detailed interrogation. Habib was intercepted by the police and found to be carrying Rs 3.5 lakh after she left the Pakistani high commission. Upon interrogation, she revealed that the money was given to her by Geelani and that it was to be used for funding militant activities in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan has rejected the allegation that its high commission in New Delhi had given money to the two for financing terrorism in the State. In Islamabad, besides charge d'affaires Sudhir Vyas, the four others asked to leave Pakistan were first secretary Rahul Rasgotra and staff R Balu, Ranbir Singh and S R Anand. They have been given 48 hours to leave the country. Their families have been given one week to return to India, the Pakistan foreign office said. The counsellor in the Indian high commission Vikram Misri was called to the Pakistan foreign office on Saturday afternoon and conveyed Islamabad's decision in response to expulsion of Pakistan acting high commissioner Jalil Abbas Jilani and four other staff by India. Blix Arrives in Baghdad for Crucial Talks (Go To Top) BAGHDAD: The United Nations' chief weapons inspectors have arrived in Baghdad and begun pivotal talks on disarmament, amid intensifying preparations for a possible war. Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei said they would seek Iraq's "co-operation on substance", including allowing Iraqi scientists to be interviewed in private and permitting U2 surveillance planes to fly over Iraq. Meanwhile, rifts within the UN Security Council over how to deal with Iraq have deepened, with Russia, France and China calling for inspections to be given more time. In marked contrast, President Bush pressured the Council on Friday to "make up its mind" over how to force Iraq to abandon suspected prohibited weapons. Blix and ElBaradei are due to present reports to the Security Council soon. Bush and Saddam in the Same Shoes (Go To Top) LONDON: Finally there is one thing that warring foes Saddam Hussein and George Bush have in common - they both wear the same hand-made Italian shoes. Italian shoe-makers Vito Artioli were surprised to receive orders from the Iraqi as well as the US Presidents. Bush placed his order first and was soon followed by his deadly enemy, who ordered 15 pairs. And, incredibly, three of the designs are exactly the same as the US President's. Bush, who wears a size 10, and the Iraqi leader - a 9-1/2 - have both bought a plain leather shoe, a brogue and a crocodile, all in black, says a report in the Sun. Vito (66), who runs the business with his father Severino (98), and son Andrea (33), in Italian fashion capital Milan, was quoted in the report as saying: "It came as a bit of a surprise when I noticed the order forms from both Saddam and President Bush. "We have been making shoes for important figures for years. But to have both Bush and Hussein in the present climate is a bit odd. Now let us hope they learn to walk together in step," he added. The shoes, which take three months to make, were ordered by Bush from the Battaglia boutique chain in the US. His father George (senior), who was also US President, and brother Jeb, Governor of Florida, get their footwear there too. Saddam ordered his shoes from a dealer in Baghdad. But Vito also revealed that apart from the three matching pairs, Bush and Saddam have vastly different tastes. He added: "The American President prefers the classic style of shoe in a calf skin, while the Iraqi leader is more adventurous using various skins and materials." India Developing Missile Shield (Go To Top) NEW DELHI: An Indian defence scientist said on Friday an anti-ballistic missile defence shield is next on the drawing board as part of the country's Integrated Missile Development Programme (IMDP). India has demonstrated capability to fire shorter-range 'Prithvi' and medium range 'Agni' missiles up to 2,000 km range with one-tonne conventional or nuclear warhead. It has already announced plans to test a longer range 3,000 km missile in September this year. However, in an obvious deviation from expanding reach and range of missiles to aim for Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) capability, scientists at the Defence Research and Development Organistaion (DRDO) are now trying to acquire "the prohibitive and high technology" missile shield. Dr VK Saraswat, director, 'IMARAT' Research Centre, a unit of DRDO based in Hyderabad, said with the proliferation of missiles in India's neighbourhood, developing a reliable missile shield is imperative. "As the threat in the arena is increasing, we know our enemies, our adversaries have acquired the ballistic missiles so we have to have both the postures. We have to have the offensive postures and we also should have the defensive postures. So as a country we have realised that having developed the Prithvis and Agnis which are of offensive postures, we got to have new technologies which are commensurate to give us a lead in the area of ballistic missile defence. So we have initiated technology development programmes in that area," Saraswat said in Bangalore on the sidelines of an aero-show. No-confidence Notice Against UP Speaker (Go To Top) LUCKNOW: The Samajwadi Party submitted a notice of no-confidence motion against Speaker Kesari Nath Tripathi here on Saturday. The party alleged that the Speaker had been acting in a biased manner in favour of the Government while recognizing the break-away groups of the Opposition parties. Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly Mohammed Azam Khan submitted the notice of no-confidence. He alleged that the Speaker has been working in an "unconstitutional manner" for the past five years. Khan said, "Tripathi has been running the Governments by breaking up political parties. In the last few days, the Congress party was broken up. First four of its members were made ministers, then another three by breaking up other parties. The Speaker had a big role in destroying the democratic process." The no-confidence motion against the Speaker in a way would provide a testing ground for the Mayawati Government as the Opposition is also contemplating to bring a similar motion against the chief minister. Violence Marks Patna Bandh (Go To Top) PATNA: Two public transport buses were set afire, tyres of others deflated and window screens of many private vehicles smashed during the dawn-to-dusk bandh called by the Opposition here on Saturday. The bandh was particularly against the increasing incidents of kidnapping and high-handedness by the State police. It may be recalled that during the past two months there have been three fake police encounters and two cases of kidnapping, one each of a journalist and a doctor, though both were released without any harm being caused. The violence which erupted on Patna streets forced the police to resort to lathi-charge and burst teargas shells. There were, however, no reports of any casualty or injury. The bandh was called by the NDA and the Indian Federal Democratic Party (IFDP) of Lok Sabha member Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav. Patna Superintendent of Police ON Bhaskar said bandh supporters set on fire two private buses on the Bailey Road. Reports said lathi-wielding NDA activists smashed the windscreens of nearly a dozen vehicles on Bailey Road, Kankarbagh and Chiraiyatand areas. According to the police, nearly 300 protesters were detained as a preventive measure. -ANI |