The Daily Indian

Turnout in Iraq’s parliamentary election was 62 percent, higher than in last year’s provincial ballot, despite attempts by Sunni Islamist insurgents to disrupt the vote with attacks that killed 38, officials said on Monday.

Preliminary results were not expected for another day or two in a poll that Iraqis sickened by violence hope will help bring better governance and stability after years of sectarian slaughter, as U.S. troops prepare to withdraw.

Turnout reached 62 percent, said Hamdiya al-Husseini of Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC).

That was better than many had hoped for and indicated Iraqis were not deterred by blasts that thudded across the capital on election day. Iraqi officials blamed the explosions on mortar, rockets and roadside bombs, but U.S. military officials said many were caused by “noise bombs” consisting of explosives in plastic bottles.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s State of Law list said it was on course for victory in Baghdad and Iraq’s Shi’ite south, a claim that could not be verified but which, at least in the south, appeared to be backed by informal, early vote tallies.

Amid concerns over safety of Indians in Afghanistan in the wake of last week’s attack, National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon on Friday met President Hamid Karzai and other top leaders to discuss the security of 4,000 Indians working on developmental projects across the country.

Menon, who arrived here this morning on a two-day visit, held detailed deliberations with Karzai on various aspects related to the safety of the Indians.

He also met his Afghan counterpart Rangin Dadfar Spanta, Foreign Minister Zalmai Rasoul and some top officials from the defence establishment, sources said. Besides discussing the security issue, he enquired about the progress in investigations into the February 26 attack in which Indians were specifically targeted, they said.

Menon held discussions with Ambassador Jayant Prasad and other senior officials of the Embassy to know their assessment of the situation.

He also met some members of the Indian community to take their views on the security front, the sources said.

Concerned about the safety of its nationals in Afghanistan after the latest attack, Indian government has evolved certain proposals for their security which include setting up of protected venues where they could be housed.

There are also proposals for deploying security personnel at places where Indians work.

Seven Indians, including three major-rank officers of the Army, were killed in the attack that targeted guest houses frequented by Indians.

Sri Lanka is set to extend the state of emergency by another month, with the government planning to reconvene the dissolved Parliament next week to get the measure ratified, a report said today.

The House was dissolved last month ahead of the April 8 parliamentary election, but will have to be called again to ratify the President’s measure to extend the emergency within 10 days.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa reportedly signed a proclamation for extending the tough law. The parliament is likely to be convened on March 9.

“Parliament is likely to reconvene for a special session next week to extend the state of emergency by another month,” the Daily Mirror online reported quoting government sources.

The Parliament was dissolved on February 9 in order to conduct the general election next month but Rajapaksa is to convene a special session of the house to extend the state of emergency, it said.

The use of emergency laws since in 1983, imposed to combat the LTTE, has come under criticism with some opponents saying it has been used to suppress dissent.

In a fresh incident of violence against Asians in Australia, a Sri Lankan man and his Indian wife were attacked and racially abused by a group of drunken men at their home here.

A group of 25 drunken thugs bashed up 60-year-old Ranjit Sahasranaman, who is married to Indian-origin Agalya Sahasranamn, outside his own home in Carrams Down suburb on Sunday morning.

Sahasranaman, a Sri Lankan national, revealed his over two-and-a-half hour ordeal of how he fought back with the thugs till police arrived and dispersed them, the Herald Sun reported today.

Sahasranaman, who has lived in Australia for 19 years with his wife and two kids, said he was assaulted and racially abused by the gang of mostly white men who damaged his back fence and gained entry to his yard.

He said he was forced to fight back with a bar when the intruders got within centimetres of his back door.

Interestingly, this time the police dropped home one of the injured offender who allegedly got hurt by Sahasranaman.

“They were throwing punches at me,” Sahasranaman said, adding “they were calling names and told me to get lost from this country.”

The attack came at a time when Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith is in India to discuss with authorities there the security preparation for the Commonwealth Games and the issue of attacks on Indians here.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the suicide attack in Kabul, in which 16 people including six Indians were killed, for which Taliban has claimed responsibility.

“The Secretary-General strongly condemns the attacks that took place in Kabul this morning, which caused the death and injury of many Afghan and foreign residents,” Ban’s spokesperson Martin Nesirky said in a statement.

“This deliberate targeting of civilians demonstrates once again a senseless disregard for human life on the part of the perpetrators,” he added.

Yesterday, Taliban targeted hotels, killing six Indians associated with development work in the country, including two Major-rank Army officers.

At least 10 others, including five Indian Army officers, were injured in a coordinated strike that killed 11 others, including locals and nationals from other countries.
Taliban have long opposed New Delhi’s presence in Afghanistan.

The deceased were identified as Major Dr Laishram Jyotin Singh of the Army Medical Corps, Major Deepak Yadav of the Army Education Corps, engineer Bhola Ram, tabla player Nawab Khan, staffer of the Kandahar Consulate Nitish Chibber and ITBP constable Roshan Lal.

Nine Indians were amongst those killed in a series of bombings in the Afghan capital, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said Friday, describing the blasts as ‘barbaric attacks’ by those ‘desperate to undermine’ ties between India and Afghanistan.

This is the third attack on Indian officials and interests in Afghanistan in the past 20 months. The attacks on the Indian embassy in July 2008 and October 2009 had killed Indian diplomats and officials besides several Afghan nationals.

‘As per the preliminary information provided by Afghan government officials, up to nine Indians, besides a few others from Afghanistan and third countries, have lost their lives,’ Krishna said in a statement.

The deceased Indians, Krishna added, included government officials.

‘A few Indians have been injured, most of whom are reported to be out of danger,’ he said, adding that arrangements were being made for their adequate and expeditious treatment, if necessary, by evacuating them to India.

Unstinting in his condemnation, Krishna said: ‘These barbaric attacks are a matter of deep concern and are clearly aimed against the people of India and the people of Afghanistan.’

‘These are the handiwork of those who are desperate to undermine the friendship between India and Afghanistan, and do not wish to see a strong, democratic and pluralistic Afghanistan,’ he stressed.

At least 15 people were killed when Taliban bombers equipped with suicide vests and automatic rifles attacked a hotel and a guesthouse in central Kabul Friday, Afghan officials said in Kabul.

A series of explosions occurred at the City Centre shopping complex and the Safi Landmark hotel, about 300 metres from the interior ministry, said Abdul Ghafar Sayedzadar, a senior police official.

Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said by phone from an undisclosed location that five Taliban bombers attacked two compounds used by foreigners.

Underlining special historical and civilisational ties with Afghanistan, India said such attacks would not deter it from deeper engagement with that country.

‘We will not allow forces of terrorism to succeed. We will do everything at our disposal to defeat the forces of extremism,’ the external affairs ministry spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said.

India has pledged $1.3 billion for reconstruction of the war-ravaged country that includes projects ranging from building roads to dams and power stations.

As the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan are scheduled to meet in New Delhi today, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the Obama Administration favours resumption of direct talks between the two neighbours.

“With respect to India and Pakistan, we have encouraged the resumption of direct talks which were suspended when President Pervez Musharraf left office,” Clinton told a Congressional panel yesterday.

In reply to a question from Senator Greg on Indo-Pak relations, she said “…talks between President Musharraf and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had actually been quite productive particularly in producing results on the ground in Kashmir. But they have been in abeyance now for… slightly more than two years.”

Clinton said that the countries were going to hold talks, and the US was sensitive to the concerns that the both countries have.

“We continue to raise it (resumption of talks) and make the case to each separately as to why it is in their mutual interest to proceed,” she said.

Referring to good relationship between India and the US, the Secretary of State said “with India, we have had a very successful start to this Administration building on, frankly, the success and the investment of the prior two administrations in working with India, creating more opportunities for investment, more relationship building between our two governments.”

“So I think that in these two areas, which are two of the most significant areas for America’s long term security, we are working very hard and you know trying to make even very small but significant progress in any way we can,” Clinton said.

Thousands of Australians, including Victorian Premier John Brumby, today treated themselves to Indian cuisine like ‘naan’ and ‘tandoori chicken’ as they joined a mass dining event to protest attacks against Indians.

Brumby joined a few leading Indian community members like Primus Telecom chief Ravi Bhatia for lunch at an Indian restaurant ‘Desi Dhaba’ in the up-market Flinders street.

The mass dining is part of ‘Vindaloo Against Violence’ campaign launched as a reaction to a spate of attacks against Indians across the city and resulting negative coverage around the world. Brumby said the response from Victorians to the initiative demonstrated the community’s commitment to unite in solidarity with the Indians and celebrate multiculturalism.

“Vindaloo against Violence initiative is a unique opportunity for Victorian to unite and send a message that the actions of an ignorant few will not be allowed to undermine the reputation of Melbourne as a peaceful and friendly city,” he said.

Australians, who joined the mass dining, treated themselves to authentic Indian cuisine like ‘naan’, ‘tandoori chicken’ and ‘chicken tikka’.

An official statement said the state parliament dinning hall.

US and NATO forces are all set to roll out an “intensive 18-month” ground campaign in Afghanistan to stamp out Taliban and al-Qaeda militants, top US generals have said warning the insurgents that the Marjah offensive was just the start.

“Marjah campaign where the Taliban resistance has only been disjointed is just an initial operation of what will be a 12 to 18 month campaign to overun the Taliban,” General David Petraeus, the head of US Central Command told NBC television’s ‘Meet The Press’ programme.
He said that President Barack Obama and General Stanley McChrystal who leads a 121,000 US and NATO force in Afghanistan, had laid out a comprehensive strategy that was only beginning to unfold.

Petraeus comments come as a strong US, NATO and Afghan army detachments are close to over-running Taliban stronghold of Marjah, whose capture would choke insurgents finances derived from poppy cultivation.

The General who oversaw a similar US forces’ surge in Iraq described Taliban resistance as “weak and disjointed” and warned that the campaign so far was only in its initial stage.
His top commander in Afghanistan, McChrystal was quoted by the British newspaper Times as saying that Kandahar would be the coalition forces’ next target.

McChrystal said that the Marjah offensive was a model for future campaigns in Afghanistan. He said the military offensive would also be expanded to three other Taliban-dominated provinces.

Times said that though the US General did not specify locations of upcoming intensified campaigns, military sources said that US and NATO forces wanted to hit the elusive but powerful Taliban warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani and his network in eastern Afghanistan.

US intelligence forces have so far been pounding the Haqqani networks hideouts in the Pakistani tribal belt targeting them with drone-fired hell-fire missiles and apparently were now poised to confront him head-on in his strongholds of Khost, Pakyta, Pakhtiar and Gardez provinces.

“We are going to go where a significant part of the population are at risk and Kandahar is clearly very important not just to the south, but to the nation,” McChrystal said adding “It is not the only area though.”

On the Marjah offensive, the US Commander said, “In many ways it is a model for the future: an Afghan led operation supported by the coalition, deeply engaged with the people.”

President Barack Obama is “most likely” to visit India, which he considers an “indispensable” partner of the US, later this year, a top official of the Administration has said.

India is on top of the agenda of the Obama Administration, which is reflected in the very fact that the President invited Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his presidency’s first State Visit in November last year, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Robert Blake, said.

“President Obama has further underscored the importance of India to the United States by promising to make a reciprocal visit to India, most likely later this year,” Blake said addressing the Chicago Council on Global Affairs yesterday.

However, he did not announce any dates for the visit.

Blake reminded the audience that the US President considers India an indispensable partner of the US. “Few relationships around the world matter more to our collective future, or hold greater promise for constructive action on the challenges that matter most to all of us, than the partnership between the United States and India.”

“That doesn’t mean that we will always agree, because we won’t. But together we can build on the solid foundation that already exists, an even stronger partnership that serves not only the interests of our two countries, but of the rest of the international community,” he said.

“The United States and India share common ideals and complementary strengths reflected in our very close people-to-people contacts, our shared embrace of democratic principles and our willingness to work together on issues that matter not only to us, but to the global community,” Blake said.

Noting that India, Pakistan and the US all face the common threat of terrorism, Blake said: “While we would like to see India and Pakistan reach a stable relationship, they will do so on their terms at the appropriate time.”

At the same time, India has become a valuable, in fact, a top five contributor to Afghanistan’s reconstruction, he said.

Blake appreciated New Delhi’s valuable assistance to the war-torn country’s reconstruction, both in infrastructure, such as construction of the Parliament building and highways, and humanitarian fields like food aid to two million school children.

India has pledged over USD 1.2 billion in assistance, Blake noted.