Iran readies for battle at nuclear arms

Iran has attacked the United States ahead of a major meeting on the troubled global anti-nuclear arms treaty, slamming US cooperation with Israel and India while ignoring President Barack Obama's offers of dialogue.

Four working papers prepared for the meeting by Iran show Tehran is redoubling its efforts to draw attention away from its own nuclear programme by turning the spotlight on Washington for what it says are clear breaches of the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty, Western diplomats say.

The signatories of the 1970 NPT, which is aimed at halting the spread of nuclear arms and demands that those with atomic arsenals take steps to get rid of them, gather on Monday to prepare for a major conference in 2010 that many countries hope will result in an overhaul of the landmark treaty.

They want the nuclear powers to make good on disarmament pledges and agree on a plan to end loopholes that have enabled states like North Korea, which withdrew from the pact in 2003 and tested a nuclear device in 2006, to develop atomic weapons under cover of civilian nuclear energy programmes.

Iran, UN diplomats involved in the conference say, has gone on the offensive ahead of the meeting to keep the focus away from its nuclear programme, which The United States and its allies say Iran's nuclear programme is a covert quest for atomic weapons. Tehran denies the charge and has refused to halt uranium enrichment despite three rounds of UN sanctions imposed by the Security Council.

In the four papers Iran's delegation submitted for the May 4-15 NPT conference, Tehran says Washington is in clear breach of the treaty by developing new atomic weapons and providing nuclear aid to Israel and India. Neither country has signed the NPT, but India has nuclear weapons and Israel is presumed to have built up a nuclear arsenal. 

TWO AIRWORKS MEN HELD IN CHOPPER SABOTAGE CASE

In a latest development in the Anil Ambani chopper sabotage case, two employees of the Airworks company have been arrested. Uday Warekar and Palraj Thevar were with Bharat Borge when he discovered pebbles in the fuel tank of Anil Ambani's chopper.

Borge was found dead under mysterious circumstances last week.

Earlier, the Mumbai Police investigating the mysterious death of Bharat Borge, a key witness in the Anil Ambani chopper sabotage case, ruled out the involvement of Ambani's staff. In a letter to the police, Borge had said that Reliance officials came to meet him a day after he reported the sabotage attempt.

Borge’s family has suggested foul play.

"Union rivalry and not corporate rivalry suspected in

chopper sabotage case," police said.

UNITED NATION IS WORRIED ABOUT NEPAL SITUATION

United Nations Security Council would discuss the current situation in Nepal in the wake of Prime Minister Prachanda's resignation at a special meeting in UN on Tuesday.

Though the meeting was scheduled well in advance to discuss the recently submitted report of the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, on Nepal, this meeting, UN diplomats said could not have come at a more appropriate time given the current political turmoil in the Himalayan country.

The meeting would be chaired by the Russian Ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, who in the capacity of the president of the 15-member Security Council for the month of May.

The Representative of the Secretary-General in Nepal, Karin Landgren, would brief the Security Council on the current situation in the country and give her assessment to the members of the council.

In his report submitted to the Security Council last week, the Secretary-General had noted that progress has been made in Nepal's peace process, including steps towards drafting a new constitution

Nepal plunged into a fresh political crisis after Prachanda resigned in the wake of President Ram Baran Yadav asking the Army Chief, who was sacked by him, to remain in office.

In his report, prepared before the current political turmoil, Ban had however warned that the relations between the CPN-M and its main coalition partner, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) (UML), as well as among the four political parties in the Maoist-led coalition Government, remain "fractious, marked by public acrimony and weak consultation over major decisions." 

KaSaB IN nOt MiNor,dEcLArE'S sPEcIaL CoUrT

Mumbai:
Observing that Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, prime accused in the Mumbai terror attack, is not a minor, a Special Court ruled on Saturday that it had the jurisdiction to try him.
Judge M L Tahiliyani accepted the evidence tendered by jail Superintendent Swati Sathe and Dr V Ramamurthy that Kasab had informed them that his age was 21 years.
The Judge also took into consideration Ossification (bone) and dental test reports which indicated that he was above 20 years of age.
"I am made to believe by the witnesses examined that the accused was 21 years at the time of attack and his date of birth is September 13, as mentioned by him to jailer of Arthur Road and the doctor who examined him," the Judge said.
In a related development, the court rejected Kasab's plea for X-ray plates to seek medical opinion regarding his age. The Judge observed that this opportunity was given to his lawyer Abbas Kazmi earlier, but he did not opt for it.
Judge M L Tahiliyani had ordered an inquiry to determineKasab's age following a prosecution plea in this regard.
The accused had claimed that he was less than 18 years and therefore could not be tried by the special court. The inquiry concluded with Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam submitting forensic and substantive evidence to prove that Kasab was not a minor.
The testimony of five witnesses, Ossification (bone) test and dental checks have revealed that he was above 20 years of age, the court observed.

FLU EPIDEMIC FEAR RISES DAY BY DAY....

swine flu outbreak appeared to be easing on Saturday with a decrease in serious cases, the government said, but world health officials warned the unpredictable virus could still become a pandemic. "Each day there are fewer serious cases and the mortality has been decreasing," Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova told a news conference in Mexico City, where millions were heeding government advice to stay at home. Of the more than 100 suspected deaths from the new H1N1 virus that have emerged in the Latin American nation, 19 had been confirmed, Cordova said. Mexico had already scaled back from its original estimate of 176 suspected deaths. However, new cases of the mongrel virus, which mixes swine, avian and human flu strains, were still being tracked across the world. Costa Rica, Italy and Ireland confirmed cases of the disease, which has now been found in 18 countries.

In Geneva, the World Health Organization said H1N1 influenza had not spread in a sustained way outside North America, as required before the pandemic alert is raised to its highest level. But it said that would probably happen soon. "I would still propose that a pandemic is imminent because we are seeing the disease spread," Michael Ryan, WHO director of Global Alert and Response, told a briefing. Few are ready to take chances with the new virus, widely dubbed swine flu.
In Hong Kong, police quarantined a hotel after a Mexican guest fell ill with the virus. Mexico, the country hardest hit by the virus, called the action "unjustified" and advised its citizens to avoid travel to China. China's Foreign Ministry had no immediate response.

CrISis iN NEpAL aS PrAcHaNdA FiReS aRmY ChIeF;GoVT ToTTErS

Kathmandu_________
Nepal’s three-year-old peace process and experiment in political partnership between former insurgents and pro-democracy forces today appeared to have been dealt a crippling blow after Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, on the diktat of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists (CPN-M), sacked Army chief General Rookmangud Katawal for “insubordination”.
Dahal’s move, which sparked protests from most political parties, including ruling coalition partners, and put a big question mark on the continuance of the government, was rejected by President Rambaran Yadav who, as the Supreme Commander, directed Katawal to continue as Army chief. Yadav even sent a letter to this effect to Dahal but the Prime Minister’s office declined to acknowledge it.
The Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) held an emergency meeting after Katawal’s sacking and decided not only to withdraw its ministers from the Cabinet but also move a no-confidence motion to bring down the government. The main Opposition Nepali Congress decided to support the no-confidence motion.
We will explore formation of a new government because the Maoists have gone against the principle of consensus, the basis for our party joining the Cabinet,” said Ishwar Pokharel, general secretary of the UML.
President Yadav stepped in after 17 political parties including the CPN-UML, Madheshi Janadhikar Forum and Nepal Sadbhavna Party — all partners in the Maoist-led coalition — told him that the Prime Minister’s action of dismissing Katawal and appointing Kul Bahadur Khadka as officiating chief of the Nepal Army was illegal, that they were not party to the decision. The 17 parties are considering forming a national government.

NEPAL PReSidEnt ASks ArMy CHIeF to StAy AFTER PM's ORdeRs FOr HiS ReMoVaL

GREAT NEWS FOR ARMY CHIEF....

In a big blow to Prachanda, President Ram Baran Yadav has asked Gen Rukmangad Katawal to remain as Nepal's army chief as his dismissal by the Prime Minister does not meet the "constitutional requirements and due process".
"Since the dismissal of the Army Chief and the new appointment do not meet the constitutional requirements and due process, I hereby direct you to continue as the Chief of the Nepali Army," the President said in a letter to Gen Katawal late on Sunday night.
Yadav's move came hours after Prachanda sacked the Army Chief who refused to step down plunging the country into a political crisis.
The President had on Sunday asked Prachanda, a former Maoist rebel leader, to follow constitutional provisions and seek a political consensus over firing Gen Katawal.
The letter asking Gen Katawal to remain in office also came after 18 political parties urged the President to protect the "constitution and block action against the Army Chief."

Sources at the President's Office said Yadav, who is also the supreme commander of the Army, intervened in the matter as the parties commanding majority in parliament requested for his intervention to defend the constitution.
Soon after the Government announced its decision to fire the Army Chief, CPN (UML) quit the government in protest against the decision.
After a standing committee meeting of CPN (UML) at Balkhu, its chairman Jhalanath Khanal said his party has withdrawn support to the government and called back its ministers.
The CPN (UML) has 108 members in the 601-member Constituent Assembly and its action has raised doubts over the survival of the multi-party coalition. Maoists have 229 members and it was not immediately clear whether the government was still in a majority.