Pakistan towards democracy???

Pakistan's suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry warned against centralized power in a thinly disguised criticism of President Pervez Musharraf, without ever mentioning him by name. In a nationally televised address at a judiciary seminar Saturday, Chaudhry told the thousands of lawyers gathered, along with several diplomats, "The determination of the people cannot be resisted for long." "Centralization of power in one person or institution is dangerous," he added. Thousands of supporters rallied with anti-Musharraf slogans outside the court where the seminar, entitled "Separation of Power and Independence of Judiciary," was held. A large television set up on the street televised Chaudhry's speech. The speech came as Imran Khan, a popular opposition politician and key Chaudhry supporter, was banned by the Sindh province home ministry from entering Karachi, the province capital, a government official told CNN. Musharraf removed Chaudhry from his post as Pakistan's top judge on March 9, accusing him of misusing his powers. The dismissal initially sparked widespread, largely peaceful demonstrations by the country's attorneys and those who believe Musharraf abused his authority. However, nearly two weeks ago, clashes between government supporters and Chaudhry supporters killed 49 people in the southern port city of Karachi. The country's Supreme Court has yet to make a ruling on Chaudhry's dismissal and has put tight restrictions on Pakistan's media in their reporting about the case. Musharraf has said that he will respect the court's decision. Musharraf appointed Chaudhry to the court in 2005, but the judge fell from favor after exercising independence from the government in a number of cases involving the disappearance of terrorist suspects and human rights activists. U.S. officials have not weighed in on the matter; Musharraf is a key U.S. ally in the war on terrorism. Musharraf is a Pakistani army general who seized power and declared himself president in 1999 after former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif tried to dismiss him as head of armed forces. Musharraf's critics accuse him of removing Chaudhry in an effort to intimidate the judiciary ahead of crucial elections and a vote in parliament to extend his rule later this year.

Bush predicts bloody summer in Iraq; House OK's funding

By Susan Milligan, Globe Staff | May 25, 2007

WASHINGTON -- President Bush yesterday predicted "heavy fighting" this summer in what he acknowledged was an unpopular war in Iraq, but said it would be "catastrophic" for the United States to leave before the country is stable.

Before the House approved a measure to continue funding for the war, the president warned that insurgent forces in Iraq would deliberately step up attacks against US troops and Iraqi civilians in advance of September, when administration officials are scheduled to deliver progress reports on the war to Congress .

"It could be a bloody, it could be a very difficult August," the president said in a Rose Garden news conference. "We can expect more American and Iraqi casualties."

Despite growing public discontent with the war, Bush won a key victory on Capitol Hill, where the House voted 280 to 142 for a measure that would continue funding for the war without imposing any schedule for troop withdrawals. Many Democrats voted against it -- including the entire Massachusetts delegation -- but strong GOP support ensured passage of the bill, which would provide $120 billion for the war and some domestic programs unrelated to the conflict.

The Senate last night approved the measure 80 to 14.

When the spending bill came to the House floor yesterday, lawmakers on both sides of the intense, heated debate exhorted their colleagues to think of the troops. Antiwar forces pleaded to bring them home, while supporters of the Iraq war accused their colleagues of damaging the morale of American servicemen and women.

"Think about the message we have sent them: We have undermined their efforts, lowered their morale, and clearly sent the wrong message" by fighting with the White House over the bill for more than three months, said the House minority leader, John Boehner , Republican of Missouri.

In a tearful speech on the House floor, Boehner recalled the thousands killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and said the United States needed to win the war in Iraq. "If we don't stand up now, and we don't have the courage to defeat the enemy, we will regret it," he said.

Representative John Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat who voted to authorize the Iraq invasion but has since become one of his party's most vocal war opponents, challenged his fellow House members to see the deteriorating situation in Iraq and move US troops out of harm's way.

"We're trying to change direction. We're trying to win this war," shouted Murtha, a decorated Vietnam combat veteran, during the floor debate. "You can't win if you don't look at it objectively."

A New York Times-CBS News poll released yesterday indicated that 76 percent of Americans, including a majority of Republican voters, think the war is going badly, and 61 percent said the United States should never have started the conflict.

Yet the same survey found that 69 percent think Congress should continue to pay for the war, and a majority wants that spending tied to benchmarks the Iraqi government must meet. Sixty-three percent said Washington should set a 2008 deadline for a withdrawal of troops.

On May 1, Bush vetoed a bill that would have included a scheduled withdrawal of combat troops and the House was unable to override the veto, the second of his presidency.

The deal Democratic leaders worked out with the White House does not include benchmarks for the Iraqi government or deadlines for troop withdrawal. It does allow the president to withhold reconstruction aid to Iraq if the nascent government fails to meet political and security mandates, but Bush has the option of waiving that punishment.

Because the United States could opt out of paying for the country's rebuilding, the bill "tells the Iraqis that our presence or commitment in Iraq is not open-ended," said Senator Susan Collins , a Maine Republican who helped craft the legislation.

The measure also included money for domestic projects unrelated to the war, including an increase in the federal minimum wage, which Bush had opposed. The wage rises to $5.85 an hour 60 days after the bill becomes law, goes up to $6.55 next year, and reaches $7.25 an hour in 2009.

Antiwar Democrats were clearly unhappy with the package. But with Bush threatening to continue vetoing any bills that include demands for a troop withdrawal -- and some Democrats worried that Republicans would accuse them of jeopardizing the troops if it took any longer to get legislation to the president's desk -- congressional leaders agreed to push a war spending bill without conditions.

"We faced the inevitability that we simply didn't have the votes to force the president to change policy" in Iraq, a dejected Representative David Obey , Democrat of Wisconsin, said on the House floor.

But he rejected GOP criticism that Democrats dragged out the debate -- knowing Bush would never approve a bill with troop withdrawals -- to score political points with antiwar constituents.

"It's the president's actions that have delayed getting anything to [troops] anywhere," Obey said.

Representative David Dreier, Republican of California, said the extended showdown over the war funding bill, including Bush's veto, emboldened Al Qaeda by suggesting Congress would consider "a surrender date."

"I understand that many Americans just want this war to be over. I want this war to be over, too," Dreier said. "The problem is that even if we were to withdraw from Iraq, the war would not magically be over," and sectarian-fueled bloodshed would continue in Iraq, he said.

Defending the war yesterday, Bush made repeated references to Al Qaeda and said the decision to oust executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was justified, despite the protracted war that has ensued.

"I assure you Al Qaeda has got plenty of patience and persistence. The question is, do we?" Bush asked.

The administration has acknowledged that Hussein was not involved in the 9/11 attacks, but the president repeatedly insisted that another assault from Al Qaeda is imminent if the United States does not prevail in Iraq.

"If we let up, we'll be attacked," Bush told reporters in the Rose Garden.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , Democrat of California, said Democrats would continue to force the issue of a reduction in troops during the summer, as well as a change in strategy. One such piece of legislation would deauthorize the war, while another would change the nature of the mission in Iraq, moving away from combat operations.

"This is not the end," Pelosi said.

Democracy or ??? in Nepal

All schools shut down

Kantipur Report

KATHMANDU, May 17 - All public and private schools were closed on Thursday following the the Republican Teachers' Education Forum, a forum of seven teachers' union's, announcement for an indefinite closure of the schools across the country.

Although private school owners Tuesday publicized that they would not pay salaries to teachers and staffs as long as the latter continued to strike, the teachers' union announced an indefinite closure of all schools from Thursday.

Issuing a joint statement here Wednesday, All Nepal Teachers Union (ANTU) and All Nepal Free Student Union- Revolutionary (ANFSU-R) stated they had no option than to continue their protest programmes since the government “failed” to implement the tripartite agreement regarding teachers' demands that was reached last month.

"To get something we have to lose something; though we are aware that closing down all schools will hamper students' education, we have no option as the government has not acted responsibly regarding our demands," said the statement.

The statement further informs that starting Thursday, all schools across the nation will be shut down indefinitely. On Saturday, the union will hold interactions with all concerned stakeholders as well as carry out one hour of transportation strike in Kathmandu Valley, followed by various other programmes in the following days.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education and Sports issued a statement Wednesday urging the teachers union to call off the strike programmes and let schools run smoothly. "The problems can be sorted out through peaceful dialogue," said the statement. "The ministry is in the process of amending the necessary provisions in the Education Act as per the teachers' valid demands."

Similarly, by issuing separate statements, Parents Association Nepal and Private and Boarding School Employees' Union, Nepal have urged the concerned parties to solve the problem through dialogue and not paralyze the entire school education sector in a thoughtless manner.

NEPAL: Widespread disappearances still unresolved despite peace

KATHMANDU, 13 May 2007 (IRIN) - Shanta Bhandari says she has been desperately searching for her son, Bipin, since 2002 when he was arrested by government security forces and disappeared"We want to wage a war against this government," said Bhandari.

Thousands of families of missing persons have said that they will begin a nationwide demonstration for an indefinite period starting on Monday as they are frustrated by what they say is the government's apathy and negligence towards them.

"There seems to be no other way out. Now we are taking to the streets to pressure this government to take some initiative to find our sons and daughters," Bhandari told IRIN.

According to local NGO the Society of the Families of the Disappeared, there are more than 5,000 people still missing after their forced disappearances during the country's civil war, which lasted for more than a decade.

A November 2006 peace agreement brought a truce, ended the King's direct rule, and disarmed Maoist rebels who later joined a coalition government with seven other national parties.

The new government promised the families of missing persons that it would reveal the status of all their disappeared relatives, said Bhandari.

World's highest number of disappearances

During the breakdown of peace talks in 2001 and 2003, the government arrested or abducted anyone it thought was a Maoist. Maoist rebels did the same for anyone they deemed a government spy. During these years, the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances said Nepal had the highest number of disappeared people in the world.

"The government's seriousness towards this issue is lacking and despite calls to form a higher level commission [to look into the matter of the diappeared] with members including the families of the disappeared persons, it has done nothing," said Shyam Bahadur Kafle, protection officer of the Disappearance and Abduction unit of Nepal's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

UN and aid agencies concerned

The United Nation's human rights agency (OHCHR) in Nepal said it was concerned about the government's delay in resolving the issue of the disappeared.

"Delays in setting up proper, independent inquiries to clarify the fate of all the disappeared is simply prolonging the agony of their families - who do not know the whereabouts of their loved ones or what happened to them - as well as denying them the right to truth and justice," said Lena Sundh, OHCHR Nepal representative.

Earlier this month, OHCHR officials called on the Nepalese government to fulfill its commitment by holding broad consultations with civil society and other interested parties in order to establish an independent commission to look into the cases.

The Maoists, too, have failed to respond to the request of rights groups to reveal the names of people they had abducted, said NHRC officials.

"We don't want any more disappearances and we don't want more people to suffer like us," said Bhandari. She and other mothers of the disappeared recently met senior army officers dealing with human rights issues but the officers failed to give them convincing answers, said Bhandari.

When approached by IRIN, the army officers were unavailable to comment on the issue.

Human rights activists are appalled at the government's lack of action.

"It's shocking that despite such a high number of disappearances, not a single case has been tried or any perpetrators brought to justice despite evidence against them," said prominent human rights lawyer Mandira Sharma from Advocacy Forum, which has been actively fighting a system of impunity over the past few years.

nn/ar/ed

YCL friends or foes of Nepali people??

Kantipur Report KATHMANDU, May 7 - The Young Communist League (YCL), a newly created Maoist body, on Sunday seized "illegally imported" mobile phones and electronic goods worth more than Rs 30 million in Kathmandu. The goods include: 1,415 mobile phone sets, 25 LCD monitors and 30 photocopy machines, 288 units of memory cards, 387 units of chargers and 265 units of earphones. At least seven people, including three drivers, Navin Shrestha, Dilip Balami and Shekhar Bhattarai and others on board - Mahesh Karki, Mohan Karki, Shiva Raj Kandel and Navin Shrestha - were also taken in. They have been handed over to Metropolitan Police Crime Division, Hanumandhoka for further investigation. Jwala, Kathmandu district chief of YCL, told The Kathmandu Post that the goods were brought into the country via Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) and were captured at Shahid Gate. "We later handed over the goods to the Revenue Investigation Department (RID)," he said. Laxman Kumar Pokharel, deputy director general of RID also confirmed that the YCL cadres had handed over the handsets, LCD monitors, photocopy machines, memory cards, chargers and earphones to RID stating that the group had captured three vehicles full of mobile phone sets and other electronic goods at Shahid Gate. "We are currently investigating the matter," he said. Sources informed that the goods were brought into the country in the name New Hariyali Traders, Siddhi Binayak Traders and New Cyber International. "These companies had produced invoices for only two handsets, a charger and an adapt0r worth Rs 31,708, while releasing the goods," the source informed. YCL threat displaces locals Nine people including political leaders, activists and business entrepreneurs from Kusumba bazaar at Sanoshree VDC in Bardiya district have been displaced from the area due to threats by cadres of Maoist youth wing, the Young Communist League (YCL). Former Member of Parliament Khag Raj Sharma and former chairman of Sanoshree VDC Tanka Oli are among those displaced. They are staying in the district headquarters, Gulariya. YCL cadres threatened them in revenge for the local business community and others had protested against Maoist-called frequent banda (general strikes), according to local businessman Dhana Nath Yogi. Oli said he came to the district headquarters for security "after YCL cadres threatened to kill us". "The Maoists blamed us for campaigning against their agitation," Oli said. However, Maoist area in-charge "Akash", refuted the charges. "This is a propaganda meant to disparage this organization (YCL)," he claimed. Meanwhile, cadres of Thrauwan National Liberation Front (TNLF) burnt an effigy of Chief District Officer (CDO) Shiva Prasad Nepal. Chunnu Devi, Treasurer of the Front, said they would stage sit-in protests at the offices of land revenue, district administration and Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), if the authority did not immediately release all YCL members detained by police on Saturday. Also, Jhak Bahadur Malla, regional YCL chief, said they would launch nationwide agitation from Monday onward, if the government did not release them immediately without condition. However, CDO Nepal informed that the administration was planning to sue them for arson charges. Curfew lifted The local administration lifted curfew order in Sanoshree VDC of the district effective from 5 am on Sunday. Following clashes between Armed Police Force personnel and YCL cadres, the local administration had been imposing curfew in the area for security reasons since Monday. Parties concerned In Kathmandu, issuing separate statements on Sunday, various political parties have denounced the violent activities including arson, vandalism, beating and other excesses carried out by YCL members at Sanoshree in the name of freed kamaiyas (bonded laborers) and landless squatters. "Continuation of such activities by the wings of the ruling party (CPN-Maoist) is itself unreasonable behavior," said a statement issued by the Nepali Congress (NC). Likewise, issuing a separate statement, NC-Democratic denounced Maoists for issuing threats against nine local political activists including five members of NC-D. Also, National Human Rights Foundation (HURFON) denounced vandalism by the YCL.

Ancient Buddhist mural discovered in Nepal

A team of explorers and scholars says it has found a cave in remote northern Nepal with a spectacular Buddhist mural unseen for centuries and discovered only because a shepherd took shelter there.
"The most exciting find we had was a cave that was clearly intended for religious purposes. It appears it was reserved as an assembly room for Buddhist teachings," team member Broughton Coburn, an environmental and cultural conservation expert, told AFP. The local shepherd led the team to the cave in the Mustang region of Nepal, bordering Tibet. He had sheltered in it decades earlier during a rainstorm.
The cave contains a stunning, seven-metre (23-foot) long mural that the team believes dates from around the 14th century. "We felt that it was unusual that a wall painting as intricate and delicately executed and intact could be found for the first time in this millennia," said Coburn, who returned to Kathmandu from the expedition earlier this week.
The Mustang region, which opened to tourists in 1992, is a visually stunning but often dry and harsh alpine terrain adjoining Chinese-controlled Tibet. Much of the population of the region migrates for the winter to the lowlands of Nepal or India, as snowfall makes large parts of Mustang uninhabitable.
Its geographic isolation means that the region has maintained Tibetan culture and tradition to a much greater extent than Tibet itself to the north, the conservation expert and author said.
The team spent March exploring dozens of caves that had not been visited by humans for centuries. "Initially, it appeared there were around 30 or 40 of these cave complexes but now upon travelling further afield, one can easily say there are between 100 and 150 of these cave complexes, individual cave cities," said Coburn.
Two world-class mountaineers assisted the team, leading it along perilous, steep routes into the caves in Upper Mustang. For Pete Athens, leading the climbs into the previously unexplored territory knocked the experience of climbing Everest into the shade.
"I can unequivocally say that climbing into the caves was greatly more exciting than any emotions I had on Everest," said Athens, who has reached the top of the mountain seven times.
Athens and fellow climber Renan Ozturk had to invent new climbing tools to anchor the team to the poor quality, crumbling rock at the cave sites. "We had to exercise extreme caution to enter the caves.
We designed and made a number of prototypical tools to make climbing on high angle, poor quality rock possible," Athens said by telephone from his home in Seattle.
For him, the experience was unforgettable. "Mustang's stark beauty, arid other-worldliness and opportunity for exploration render it a must visit for all explorers," the mountaineer said.