India's support to MJF affects revenue collection in Nepal !!

Seema Jagaran Manch (SJM) of Bihar organised a sit-in at Indo-Nepal transit point at Jogbani on Wednesday stopping all export and import activities in support of the on going movement of Madhesi Janadhikar Forum.
The SJM activists expressed their solidarity with the agitation launched by MJF in Nepal, reports Kantipur daily. In a statement SJM has stated that they organised the sit-in to protest police atrocities against Indian nationals during Terai agitation launched by MJF.
The SJM has also accused the Maoists of expanding their organisation by staying in Indian territory and of unleashing atrocities against Indian nationals in Biratnagar, Gaur and Biratnagar with the help of police.
The daily quotes Bhanu Prasad Raya, president of SJM, as saying that the Maoists were expanding their organization in Indian territory and that the sit-in was held to exert pressure to stop it
Due to the sit-in, the collection revenue at the Biratnagar customs office was seriously affected on Wednesday. On an average, the office collects Rs 18 million revenue daily and around 300 cargo trucks move to and fro the Jogbani point.

When will Nepal declared Republic? PM says king should abdicate!

A swift turn in the political development of Nepal has created a new dimension in the fate of the tiny Kingdom. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala says it would be good if King Gyanendra were to abdicate. He also says the unpopular crown prince should abandon his claim to the throne.

What are the political implications to these most outspoken remarks against the monarch made to date by Koirala who has always been shouldering a ceremonial monarchy? The King was forced to restore parliamentary democracy last April after weeks of street protests against his unconstitutional direct rule.

Although, few Nepalese politicians from the ruling alliance have expressed so much as a word of support for the monarchy, the veteran prime minister, Koirala, has been an exception. He was condemned for saying there should still be space for a ceremonial monarchy.
But he has now shifted his ground. It does not require much thinking and arguments on why Koirala has changed his previous stand on the Monarchy. It seems clearly in response to a controversial royal statement on Democracy day in which king Gyanendra justified his takeover of absolute power two years ago.
Mr Koirala has now said this statement had made Nepal more likely to become a republic.
However, it was not clear whether Mr Koirala was recommending the king hand power to his grandson. There has been a wild rumor for a while about the king vacating the throne for his grandson in Kathmandu. Some Pundits have urged to do so in order to have a peaceful transition in Nepal.
But he said the abdications would put an end to the current chorus of demands, notably from the Maoist former rebels, that a republic be declared immediately.
Under last November's peace accord the future of the monarchy is supposed to be decided by Constitutional Assembly elected later this year.
In the meantime, BBC reports, “A recent opinion poll suggested more than half of Nepalis still want a monarchy of some kind, but parties in the ruling coalition firmly support a republic".
Can Nepal be declared a republic even before CA election?

Can Carter Center ensure free and fair CA election in Nepal?

The US-based Carter Center has launched election observation mission in Nepal with prime objective to ensure free and fair Constituent Assembly Election without violence and fraud.

According to the news release by the Center in Kathmandu, the long-term observers come from eight countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Croatia, France, Germany, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States.

"The Carter Center welcomes this opportunity to support the Nepalese people in their transition to sustainable peace and multi-party democracy and encourages all parties to the process to participate actively and ultimately to respect the will of the people," said David Carroll, director of the Carter Center's Democracy Program.

The Atlanta based Carter Center representatives have met with political parties, election officials, civil society, domestic observer groups, and the international community, all of whom have encouraged an international observation presence by the Center in order to help build confidence in the electoral process.

"It is our hope that the political leadership of Nepal and all actors in the process will continue to seek open dialogue and compromise in the pursuit of a transparent, inclusive, and credible electoral process that best enables the people of Nepal to exercise their democratic rights," said Darren Nance, Carter Center Nepal field office director.

In spite of good will and support from many national and international forces there still remains unanswered questions. Can CA election be held in free and fair atmosphere without any violence and fraud?

Mortars hit airport as peacekeepers arrive in Somalia

The first peacekeepers to arrive in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu in more than 10 years were met with a surge of violence today, as mortars hit the airport during a welcoming ceremony and a deadly gunbattle broke out on the city’s crumbling streets.

The street battles involving masked gunmen killed three people and mortars wounded one, all of them civilians, witnesses and police said.

The violence is the latest example of the volatility peacekeepers face in a country that has seen little more than anarchy for years, and where the government backed by Ethiopian troops toppled an Islamic militia only months ago.

“I saw around 100 gunmen engaging in a fierce battle. They used heavy machine guns and rocket propelled grenades,” Hassan Abukar Sidow, a Mogadishu resident, said.

He said the fighting began after police went house-to-house looking for suspects in the attack on the airport.

The bloodshed came as about 400 Ugandan peacekeepers arrived in the capital to protect the Somali government and to allow for the withdrawal of troops from neighbouring Ethiopia, which helped the administration topple a radical Islamic militia that controlled much of southern Somalia for six months.

The Ugandan troops are the vanguard of a larger African Union force authorised by the United Nations to help the government assert its authority in one of the most violent and gun-infested cities in the world.

Peacekeepers have kept clear of Mogadishu for more than a decade, while much of the country was ruled by violence and clan law. The US sent troops in 1992 as part of a UN relief operation for tens of thousands of starving civilians, but in 1993 clan militiamen shot down two Black Hawk helicopters and killed 18 American soldiers.

US forces withdrew in 1994 and the UN peacekeeping operation in Somalia was eventually abandoned in 1995.

Uganda’s Deputy Defence Minister Ruth Nankabirwa said the peacekeepers understand the dangers of working in Somalia.

“We have not just dropped our troops there without knowing the situation,” Nankabirwa said in Uganda’s capital, Kampala. “We will be the first people to make sure that they are safe so they can carry on to other missions.”

Insurgents believed to be the remnants of Somalia’s Council of Islamic Courts have staged almost daily attacks against the government, its armed forces or the Ethiopian military. On Tuesday, gunmen launched eight mortars at the airport during a ceremony to welcome the Ugandans. Two shells hit the airport; the others dropped to the sea.

People attending the ceremony scattered at the sound of the first blast. Somalia’s deputy defense minister, Salad Ali Jelle, refused to comment afterward, saying officials were investigating.

In the ensuing gunbattle, masked gunmen travelling in vans fought Somali and Ethiopian troops looking for suspects.

“The gunmen reminded me of the insurgents in Iraq, especially the way they covered their faces and carried the RPG on the shoulders,” said resident Salah Yabarow Wardhere.

Just hours earlier, overnight, gunmen killed seven people, including a police commander and a leading cleric, government officials and witnesses said. The police commander and another officer were ambushed at a major intersection, said Mohamud Burale Coon, a tea shop owner.

Maslah Mohamed Abdi said his brother, who was the top cleric in one of Mogadishu’s main mosques, was killed outside his home. The gunmen then killed four businessmen who were chewing qat, a mild stimulant, in their home, a neighbour said.

“The men stood at the door of a room ... and then opened fire,” Halima Hashi Adow said.

The cleric and the four men had been trying to hire gunmen to protect them, their homes and their neighbourhood. But the insurgents use the neighbourhood to launch mortar attacks on Ethiopian bases and did not want any private security forces in the area, residents said.

African Union Peace and Security Commissioner Said Djinnit said the peacekeepers are allowed to defend themselves if attacked, but would not launch attacks on anyone.

“Our mission is to support all Somalis and the political process, which is based on dialogue and reconciliation,” Djinnit said in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

A Somali government spokesman, meanwhile, said local police are prepared to fight the insurgency and crime wave.

“Security is paramount for the country to attain a lasting peace, and law enforcement mechanisms such as the prisons and police force are now ready,” Hussein Mohamud Hussein, the spokesman, said.

China's leaders shift focus of spending

The Chinese leadership has made big promises on the environment and poverty at the opening of parliament - the National People's Congress - in Beijing. Prime Minister Wen Jiabao also pledged greater support for education and health. His budget priorities reflect Beijing's recent focus on shifting spending to social programmes.

They were neglected while the communist government concentrated on boosting investment and trade. That has fuelled unprecedented economic growth in the country but not all have benefited. The Prime Minister made a further commitment to close the gap between the rich and the poor. Analysts question whether all these goals can be achieved.

Maoist rebels' shoot Indian MP

A member of parliament belonging to a prominent regional party in eastern India has been shot dead by suspected Maoists, officials have said.

Sunil Mahato of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha was killed while watching a football match in Jharkhand, which has been the scene of a Maoist insurgency.

Two security guards and a party leader were also killed in the shoot out.

More than 6,000 people have died during the rebels' 20-year fight for a communist state in parts of India.

The ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led government in the state has called for India's top federal detective agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), to lead an investigation into Sunday's murder.

The incident happened when Mr Mahato turned up in Kishanpur village to watch a local football match.

Ghatshila senior official Ramesh Dubey told the Press Trust of India news agency that about 15 Maoists came to the match and moved close to where Mr Mahato was sitting on the pretext of giving him a garland.

'Revenge'

He said Mr Mahato and his security guards died instantly after the men opened fire, while a local party leader died on his way to hospital.

Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda said he did not rule out the Maoists killing Mr Mahato in "revenge" for the government's drive against the Maoists in the region.

A spokesman for Jharkhand Mukti Morcha said a general strike has been called in the state on Monday in protest against the murder.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha party is an ally of the governing Congress party.

The Maoist movement which began more than three decades ago has spread to a number of Indian states.

The rebels say they are fighting for the rights of poor peasants and landless workers.

Story from BBC NEWS:

Senior Taliban leader arrested in Pakistan

Declan Walsh in Islamabad Friday March 2, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

Pakistan has made its first arrest of a senior Taliban commander, it emerged today, apparently bowing to intense western pressure to get tough on militant leaders sheltering inside its borders.

Mullah Obaidullah Akhund, a former Taliban defence minister, was captured in the western city of Quetta. He is the most senior Taliban official to be apprehended since US-led forces ousted the Islamist movement from power in late 2001.

Western diplomats hope the arrest marks a turning point in policy by Pakistan, which until now has bristled at demands to crack down on Taliban safe havens.

"We are very pleased," said a western official who confirmed the arrest. "It's precisely the sort of thing we have been pressing on the Pakistanis for some time."

Akhund is a leading figure on the Taliban leadership council and is reportedly one of the few confidants of Mullah Muhammad Omar, the fugitive Taliban leader.

His capture in Quetta on Monday lent further credence to suggestions that the city has become a headquarters for the Taliban, claims which have been heatedly denied by Pakistani officials. In January a captured Taliban spokesman said that Mullah Omar was hiding in Quetta. The Pakistani president, General Pervez Musharraf, later retorted that he was "500% sure" Omar was inside Afghanistan.

Mulllah Akhund had been under surveillance in Quetta for some time, the western official said, but it "wasn't clear" why Pakistani law enforcement had not swooped earlier. A crackdown in Quetta could provide an immediate benefit for British forces across the border in southern Afghanistan, who are braced for an expected Taliban spring offensive in the coming weeks.

Today, the Pakistani government appeared to have been caught off guard by leaked reports of Akhund's arrest. Interior minister Ahmed Khan Sherpao said five Afghans had been arrested but he would not confirm if Akhund was among them. The chief military spokesman said he had "no information".

Speculation was rife that the capture had been triggered by Monday's visit of Dick Cheney. The US vice-president urged Gen Musharraf to crack down on militant havens in the tribal belt and Baluchistan province, of which Quetta is the capital.

"Pakistan and the US are in a perfect patron-client relationship where service delivery is very important. Our service is to capture militants," said Dr Ayesha Siddiqa, a defence analyst in Islamabad.

Mr Musharraf is finding it increasingly difficult to balance the demands of his allies with sensitive domestic constraints. The Cheney visit involved some tough talking, said a source familiar with the conversation.

Mr Cheney pressed Gen Musharraf to be more forceful in Waziristan, the lawless tribal area where the US believes al-Qaida is regrouping. The general rejected the demand, saying that a militaristic approach to the tribal areas had failed in the past and could spark a civil war in the future.

Hours later, after Mr Cheney had left for Afghanistan, Mullah Akhund was captured. On Wednesday Gen Musharraf warned foreign "terrorists" to quit the mountainous tribal areas. "They should leave or they will be dealt with," he said.

Gen Musharraf is also under stiff internal pressure. A spate of suicide bombings in the past six weeks has killed almost 50 people.

Today, a bomb seriously wounded a senior anti-terrorist judge in the Punjabi city of Multan and killed at least three people.

Combined with veiled American threats to cut Pakistan's multi-billion pound aid package, the attacks are hardening anti-American sentiment even among moderates.

"We have to look out for ourselves," wrote commentator Ayaz Amir in Dawn newspaper, which broke the news of Mullah Akhund's capture. "We need to close ranks and stop portraying a picture of a house divided and almost at war with itself."

"There is a growing feeling in Pakistan that this is just not working, that we have gotten ourselves trapped between the devil and the deep blue sea," said Talat Masood, a retired general and analyst.

Koirala, Indian envoy discuss Maoists' inclusion in Nepal Government

There have been a lot of rumors floating in the streets of Kathmandu regarding inclusion of the Maoists in the present government and conducting Constituent Assembly. However, before every substantial development the intense consultations start with all stakeholders in Nepal including the foreigners.

It is believed in the same connection the in Kathmandu on Mar. 1 Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala held discussions with the Indian ambassador to Nepal, Shiv Shankar Mukherjee.

The 20 minute meeting at Baluwatar official residence of PM also discussed the current political situation in Nepal. This meeting comes in the wake of larger consultations between the Seven Party Alliance government and the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists (CPN-M). Maoist Chairman Prachanda is scheduled to meet Prime Minister for the same purpose within one or two days.

Earlier in the day, US Ambassador to Nepal James F Moriarty met Interim Parliament Speaker Subhas Nembang on the same issue.On Wednesday, Moriarty told CPN-UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal that he had doubts over the number of Maoist weapons registered with the United Nations.

Meanwhile, the meeting to decide the dates for the Constituent Assembly elections has been postponed till Friday. The Constituent Assembly elections are slated for mid-June