Monthly archive

By Farzana Shah-Asian Tribune Correspondent in Pakistan

Pakistan Thursday rejected concerns about safety of its nuclear program. Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit told a weekly briefing here on Thursday rejected conjectures about the safety of its nuclear assets and said the weapons were under a strong multi-layered security system which left no possibility of the weapons falling in the hands of Taliban. He added that all speculations regarding insecurity of Pakistan’s nuclear assets were baseless and uncalled for and part of a malicious campaign against the country.

The Finnish President, Mrs. Tarja Halonen, congratulated Sri Lanka and President Mahinda Rajapaksa for its military success in defeating the LTTE separatist terrorism in the country. This was conveyed to Ambassador Ranjith Jayasooriya when he met the Finnish President at a dinner in the Presidential Palace in Finland on 19th of May 2009 on the occasion of celebration marking the 200 years anniversary of Finland’s independence from Sweden in 1809.

The nation paid rich tributes to the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 18th death anniversary on Thursday. In New Delhi, President Pratibha Patil, Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the departed leader’s widow and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi were among first to pay floral tributes to the late leader at “Veer Bhumi”, the memorial of Rajiv Gandhi, which was decorated with hundreds of flowers. The children of Rajiv Gandhi, Rahul, MP and AICC general secretary and Priyanka along with her husband Robert Vadhra were present at the remembrance ceremony at the memorial. Leaders of all political parties were also present.

By Wajid Ali Syed – Washington Correspondent for Asian Tribune

President Obama has vowed to prosecute Guantanamo Bay detainees in US federal courts when possible and transfer some to prisons within the US borders. Speaking at the National Archives on Thursday he said he intends to reform military commissions to try those detainees and create a new legal process to detain terrorists who cannot be prosecuted yet who pose a clear danger to national security. The Senate has already rejected President Obama's request for $80 million to close the detention center - because of lack of details about what would be done with the 240 detainees held in the prison.

By Wajid Ali Syed – Washington Correspondent for Asian Tribune

The United States has said that its reviewing the 1.9 billion dollar loan by the IMF to Sri Lanka, though nothing has been decided about it yet. Department of State spokesperson, Ian Kelly, said at a daily briefing that the quarter century old conflict ended just a couple of days ago, so the US is still in a process of making an assessment - later explaining himself added that the international community needs to make assessment of exactly what happened and consult with the Sri Lankan government.

By Asian Tribune Team

Prabhakaran alive?If in flesh and blood he remained aloof, in death he remains lonely. That is Velupillai Prabhakaran for you. The body of the psychopath is lying in morgue, unclaimed, unmoored. After the body was identified, a judicial inquest was conducted as demanded by the law of the land. To ascertain the cause of the death. For the record, though how and when he was killed is no longer a matter of any conjecture. "Inquest, DNA testing and profiling of Prabhakaran and his family members is over. We have turned over the bodies to the Army", Suhada K.Gamlath, Secretary the Ministry of Justice, said.

Pakistan has felicitated the Government of Sri Lanka on the achievement of the "great victory over terrorism". This congratulatory message was conveyed to Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hussein A. Bhaila by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, Nawabzada Malik Amad Khan who telephoned the latter yesterday(20 May 2009). Speaking further, the Pakistan State Minister stated that Pakistan has always been a steadfast friend of Sri Lanka and strongly supported the country’s unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity and re-affirmed his Government’s continued cooperation with Sri Lanka in countering terrorism. He requested the Deputy Minister to convey his good wishes and felicitations to