Qatar calls for OIC emergency summit

By: Sultan Ahmed

DOHA, Qatar: The state of Qatar has called for an emergent Islamic summit to discuss the current developments and challenges facing the region, the official QNA news agency reported.

The agency quoted a foreign ministry official as saying that Qatar, which currently chairs the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), had contacted the secretariat of the 57-member OIC to prepare for a summit, but did not give a tentative date for the proposed meeting.

The Qatari proposal comes at a time when the clouds of US-led possible war on Iraq are hovering and protest rallies and demonstrations against US aggressive policies are being witnessed in different parts of the world.

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Supreme Court rejects govt plea on Babri mosque

By: Irfan Malik

NEW DELHI, India: The Indian Supreme Court has refused on Thursday to consider before February 21 a plea by the government to lift a ban on Hindu religious activity next to the ruins of Babri Mosque northern India saying it would stick to the original date.

Last year, the court ordered a ban on religious activity in the area in order to prevent any clashes between Hindus and Muslims since both communities claimed the plot of land.

Hard-line Hindus demolished in 1992 the 16th-century Babri mosque in Ayodhya, east of the capital New Delhi, provoking riots that claimed over 2,000 lives.

The government approached the court last week after Premier A. B. Vajpayee held a meeting with a top Hindu cleric focusing on steps to resolve the dispute over the site.

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Belgium Sharon ruling; Israel vows to respond with severity

By: Raza Ali

BRUSSELS, Belgium: Condemning a ruling by the Belgian Supreme Court which could pave the way for the prosecution of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for war crimes but only after he leaves office, Israel has warned of serious crisis between the two countries.

The decision by the Cour de cassation, the top appeal court, opened the ground for several serving or former leaders around the globe to be tried under a unique Belgian law that allows for war crimes prosecutions independently of where the offences took place.

The Belgian ruling means Sharon and the current director-general of the Israeli Defense Ministry Gen Amos Yaron could eventually be tried in relation to Palestinian massacres committed in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon in 1982.

The Belgian ambassador to Israel was ordered to report to the Israeli Foreign Ministry on Thursday, while Israel has recalled its ambassador to Brussels for talks.

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Italy court frees 28 Pakistanis for being innocent

By: Special Reporter

SOPHIE ARIE, Italy: A court in Italy has ordered the release of twenty-eight Pakistanis detained two weeks ago by the police, admitting there was not enough evidence of their involvement in an al-Qaida plot.

In his verdict, Judge Ettore Favara said that there was “reason to believe the men were unaware that explosives were hidden” in the apartment they had been renting, and that the real terrorists would not have remained in the apartment with the incriminating materials after the police made a preliminary visit two days before the arrests.

Naples police had claimed to have broken up a cell linked to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network and foiled a plot to attack UK chief of defense staff Admiral Sir Michael Boyce after they found explosives, detonator wires and marked maps in the flat in central Naples where the men were staying.

Soon after the arrests, Pakistan made an official complaint to Italy's ambassador in Islamabad protesting that they were innocent and most of them were street vendors with legal work permits or applying for permits renewal. The Italian authorities did not let the Pakistani embassy officials to meet the prisoners for a week.

An official at the Pakistani embassy in Rome hailed the ruling as “a very positive development”.

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N Korea can strike US targets, warns Pyongyang

By: Khadija Chinese

PYONGYONG, North Korea: North Korea has warned that Pyongyang has a right to self-defense and, if provoked, has the ability to strike US targets worldwide.

In an interview with a foreign news agency, a senior foreign ministry official Ri Kwang-Hyok said North Korea's attack ability is unlimited. He said North Korea possesses long-range missiles and that Pyongyang has the ability to strike enemies far away.

The US CIA chief George Tenet said on Wednesday the North may already have a nuclear-capable missile that could reach the west coast of the United States.

Kwang-Hyok’s statement came in response to the decision by the UN nuclear watchdog, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to refer Pyongyang’s nuclear issue to the United Nations Security Council.

The foreign ministry official also called on the Security Council to investigate the United States own nuclear program.

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