'Uprising Day' Plans Muted By China Clampdown

TAERSI, CHINA: As the anniversary of the Dalai Lama's flight into exile, March 10 has traditionally been a flashpoint for unrest in China's vast Tibetan-inhabited regions.

But the monks at Taersi Buddhist Monastery in the northwestern province of Qinghai have no plans to mark the day their revered spiritual leader fled Tibet following a failed uprising against China's rule in 1959.

"No, no, we have no activities planned to commemorate this day," said one monk at Taersi, home to more than 3,000 monks and one of the most influential institutions in the Dalai Lama's Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism.

"Right now our monastery is under strict supervision, it is not proper to speak of such things at this time," the monk told AFP, refusing to give his name out of fear for his safety.

Chinese authorities launched a huge security clampdown ahead of the sensitive anniversary, known in Tibetan areas as " uprising day".

It comes after a year in which more than 20 Tibetans, most of them monks, have set fire to themselves to protest Beijing's rule, sparking international condemnation of what critics call religious and cultural repression.

Beijing has heaped blame for the incidents on the Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in India, accusing the 76-year-old Buddhist leader and his followers of plotting to create "turmoil" in China's Tibetan-inhabited areas.

Tibetan Buddhist clergy are under particularly close scrutiny -- the government closely monitors their activities, stationing its representatives in monasteries and nunneries in the region and organising "political re-education" classes.

Nonetheless, photographs of the Dalai Lama, often banned in China's Tibetan-inhabited regions, are on open display in some of the vast halls at Taersi, also known by its Tibetan name of Kumbum monastery.

Visitors are shown locked rooms where monks bow and pray before even more photographs of the spiritual leader.

Monks in Taersi said security surrounding the monastery has been heavy since March 2008, when deadly riots erupted in Tibet's capital, Lhasa, and spread to other areas.

But while there have been a number of self-immolations in neighbouring Sichuan province, only one has been reported in Qinghai, which has a relatively large population of other ethnic groups including the dominant Han Chinese.

"What is particularly significant I think is that there haven't been any self-immolations in the Tibetan autonomous region, which is after all an area where half of Tibetans live," said Barry Sautman, an expert on Tibetan issues.

He said there was a difference between "those areas that are multi-ethnic or urban, or quasi-urban", where most of the self-immolations had occurred, and the sparsely populated countryside where very few Han people live.

Beijing insists that Tibetans enjoy religious freedom and have benefited from improved living standards brought on by China's economic expansion.

At the Taersi monastery, there is little evidence of any ethnic tensions, and the Tibetan monks say they coexist peacefully with their Han Chinese and ethnic Mongolian counterparts.

But they are also highly aware of the debate surrounding their revered spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in Beijing.

"We are awaiting his return to Tibet," said one.

"The government accuses him of wanting Tibetan independence, but the Dalai Lama has always said he wants more autonomy for Tibet, he wants something like the 'one country, two systems' China gave Hong Kong."

Pakistan's SC Targets Army

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's powerful military establishment is under rare scrutiny from the country's top court, which after a gap of 16 years has opened an investigation into allegations the army funneled money to politicians to influence elections.

The case has showcased the emerging power of the Supreme Court, which is also hearing a contempt case against the prime minister that could see him imprisoned. The court's activism has led to some uncomfortable headlines for politicians and pierced the perception of the generals' invulnerability.

But it's unclear who, if anyone, will be held accountable.

Indeed, some critics say by moving against the generals now, the court is just seeking to deflect criticism that it focuses solely on the alleged misdeeds of the elected civilian government and wants to dislodge President Ali Zardari, with the supposed nod from the military itself.

The court is also demanding answers from the army and spy agencies over the fate of hundreds of "missing" Pakistanis: suspected militants or separatists picked up and held by military authorities for months and years in secret detentions.

Analysts say the developments are part of jostling between the army, the court and the government, with each wanting to stake a claim on its sphere of influence. There seems to be a balance among them so far, with no side willing or strong enough to strike a decisive blow against another. Speculation of a military coup or the imminent ousting of the government, frequently raised in the media just a few months ago, has receded.

The court is acting on a petition filed in 1996 by former Air Vice Marshal Asghar Khan, demanding it investigate what he claimed were payments to right-wing politicians made by the army-run Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency, known as the ISI. The money was to be used to ensure that the Pakistan People's Party - currently in power - would not win the 1990 general elections.

Without explaining why, the court began hearing the case last month. Testimony this week has shone a light on longtime allegations that the ISI has tried to influence elections.

On Thursday, Yunus Habib, a 90-year-old banker from the state-owned Mehran Bank, testified that he doled out the equivalent of $1.5 million in bank funds to politicians and ISI officers on the orders of then army chief Gen. Aslam Beg and President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, who was considered close to the army.

Some of the politicians who allegedly took the funds remain powerful political players, including opposition leader and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He has denied taking any money.

On Friday, former ISI chief Lt. Gen. Asad Durrani testified that he was directed by Beg to distribute the money among politicians from the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad, a right-wing political alliance allegedly set up by the military establishment to counter the PPP. He said Beg told him the money had been collected from the business community in Karachi.

The alleged bribes didn't give the alliance victory, however. It won 53 seats in the National Assembly, 49 less than the PPP that went on to form the government.

What happens next is uncertain.

Khan's lawyer Salman Raja said he wanted criminal cases brought against all those who distributed and received the money. That would roil the political scene and likely be opposed by the army. Moreover, the nature of the evidence against them is unclear.

Retired justice Tariq Mahmood said the case was a "morale booster" for the current government, but that it was unlikely anyone would be put on trial. "The government now has a chance to bring the intelligence agencies ... under its control," he said.

Political analyst Moeed Pirzada said the case put both the military and Nawaz Sharif on the defensive, which benefits the current PPP government, but would likely remain inconclusive. He said the court saw the case as "an opportunity to assert itself" following criticism by some over its pursuit of President Asif Ali Zardari.

Supreme Court justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudry has been accused of pursuing a vendetta against Zardari's PPP government. Zardari opposed Chaudry's reinstatement to the job in March 2009. The court has ordered Prime Minister Yusaf Raza Gilani to reopen a corruption probe against Zardari.

Gilani has refused, arguing that Zardari has immunity from prosecution so long as he remains president. If found guilty of contempt for ignoring the order, Gilani could be imprisoned for six months and lose his job.

US Wants Relations With Pakistan On Upward Trajectory: State Dept

WASHINGTON: As Pakistan conducts a Parliamentary review of its bilateral ties with US, a State Department official said Washington wants to have its relationship with Pakistan always on an upward trajectory.

"We obviously always want our relationship with Pakistan to be on an upward trajectory," the State Department spokesperson, Victoria Nuland told reporters at her daily news conference yesterday.

US, she said, wants to improve its relationship with Pakistan.

However, Nuland refused to answer questions related to the announcement of appointment of a new ISI chief.

Pakistan-US relations have been buffeted by several crises since last year, including the gunning down of two Pakistani men by a CIA contractor in Lahore, the killing of Osama bin Laden by American commandos in Abbottabad and a cross-border NATO air strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November.

Gilani ordered a Parliamentary review of bilateral relations and new "terms of engagement" for the US will be unveiled after a joint session of the two houses of Parliament that is likely to be held later this month.

Canadian Bishop Gets 15 Months In Jail In Child Porn Case

TORONTO: A Canadian Roman Catholic bishop who admitted he was addicted to looking at child pornography left court Wednesday a free man after being credited for time served in his 15 month sentence.

Bishop Raymond Lahey was arrested at the Ottawa airport in 2009 after customs authorities found almost 600 pornographic photos of young teen boys on his laptop and a handheld device.

Some of the porn involved adolescent boys engaged in sex acts while wearing a crucifix and rosary beads.

The case was especially shocking to Canadians because Lahey had overseen a multimillion-dollar settlement for clerical sexual abuse victims in his diocese before he was charged.

Lahey, 71, pleaded guilty last May to one count of importing child pornography and voluntarily went to jail to begin serving time before his formal sentencing.

Ontario Court Justice Kent Kirkland on Wednesday gave Lahey two-for-one credit for the time he served and two years probation. Double credit is not unusual. The federal government got rid of the provision in 2010 but Lahey qualified for it because he was charged in 2009 before the legislation was enacted.

Lahey will have to submit a DNA sample and register as a sex offender. He also will have to allow searches of his personal and office computers when required by the authorities. He has also been ordered to keep away from swimming pools, daycare centers and schools.

Lahey said nothing as he left the Ottawa courthouse on Wednesday.

Defense lawyer Michael Edelson called it ``exactly the right sentence.'' Edelson said Lahey's career in the church is over. He said Lahey wrote a letter to the Vatican last year asking to be defrocked but hasn't heard back yet.

Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said Wednesday that the Vatican had said that once the criminal court case was concluded, church authorities would consider which church law measures to take. Lombardi said it wasn't known when that decision would be taken but that he expected it would be made public.

After Lahey pleaded guilty, the Vatican said the church would impose its own disciplinary measures against him but did not elaborate.

Prelates who sexually abuse minors can be defrocked. Lesser punishments include being forbidden from celebrating Mass publicly.

Edelson said Lahey has been in solitary confinement and the conditions have been dismal.

"He's lost about 30 pounds (13 kilograms). He has a very severe skin condition now that he didn't have when he went in. It's been a very difficult period, and that's one of the reasons there is a two-for-one credit,'' Edelson said.

At a sentencing hearing last month, Lahey offered an apology to his church and to victims of child pornography. He said his addiction to internet porn went against his moral principles.

Lahey resigned as head of the Catholic diocese of Antigonish in Nova Scotia just before the charges became public.

"This entire matter has caused a great deal of hurt, disappointment and anger within and outside of our diocese,'' new Antigonish Bishop Brian Dunn said in a statement. ``Church leaders are called to provide good example and to show moral integrity in their lives. When they commit serious moral failures, this can have a significant impact on the faith community. This is especially so when it involves the crime of child pornograhy.''

Us Police Kill School Student Carrying Pellet Gun

BROWNSVILLE: The parents of a teenage student who was fatally shot by US police inside his South Texas school are demanding to know why officers took lethal action, but police said the boy was brandishing _ and refused to drop _ what appeared to be a handgun.

The weapon turned out to be a pellet gun that closely resembled the real thing, police said late Wednesday, several hours after 15-year-old Jamie Gonzalez was repeatedly shot in a hallway at Cummings Middle School. No one else was injured.

"Why was so much excess force used on a minor?" the boy's father, Jaime Gonzalez Sr., told The Associated Press outside the family's home Wednesday night. "Three shots. Why not one that would bring him down?"

His mother, Noralva Gonzalez, showed off a photo on her phone of a beaming Jaime in his drum major uniform standing with his band instructors. Then she flipped through three close-up photos she took of bullet wounds in her son's body _ including one in the back of the head.

"What happened was an injustice," she said angrily. "I know that my son wasn't perfect, but he was a great kid."

Interim Police Chief Orlando Rodriguez said the teen was pointing the weapon at officers and "had plenty of opportunities to lower the gun and listen to the officers' orders, and he didn't want to."

The chief said his officers had every right to do what they did to protect themselves and other students even though there weren't many others in the hallway at the time. Two officers fired three shots, hitting Gonzalez at least twice, police said.

Shortly before the confrontation, Jaime had walked into a classroom and punched a boy in the nose for no apparent reason, Rodriguez said. Police did not know why he pulled out the weapon, but "we think it looks like this was a way to bring attention to himself," Rodriguez said.

About 20 minutes elapsed between police receiving a call about an armed student and shots being fired, according to police and student accounts. Authorities declined to share what the boy said before he was shot.

The shooting happened during first period at the school in Brownsville, a city at Texas' southern tip just across the Mexican border. Teachers locked classroom doors and turned off lights, and some frightened students dove under their desks. They could hear police charge down the hallway and shout for Gonzalez to drop the weapon, followed by several shots.

David A. Dusenbury, a retired deputy police chief in Long Beach, California, who now consults on police tactics, said the officers were probably justified.

If the boy was raising the gun as if to fire at someone, "then it's unfortunate, but the officer certainly would have the right under the law to use deadly force."

A recording of police radio traffic posted on KGBT-TV's website indicates that officers responding to the school believed the teen had a handgun. An officer is heard describing the teen's appearance, saying he's "holding a handgun, black in color."

Less than two minutes later, someone yells over the radio, "Shots fired," and emergency crews are asked to respond. About two minutes later, someone asks where the boy was shot, with the responses that he was shot in the chest and "from the back of the head."

Superintendent Carl Montoya remembered Gonzalez as "a very positive young man."

"He did music. He worked well with everybody. Just something unfortunately happened today that caused his behavior to go the way it went. So I don't know," he said Wednesday.

Gonzalez Sr. said he had no idea where his son got the gun or why he brought it to school, adding: "We wouldn't give him a gift like that."

He said he last saw his son around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, when the boy said goodbye before leaving to catch the bus to school. And he said nothing seemed amiss the night before when he, his wife and their son went out for nachos then went home and watched a movie.

Gonzalez Sr. was struggling to reconcile the day's events, saying his son seemed to be doing better in school and was always helpful around the neighborhood mowing neighbors' lawns, washing dogs and carrying his toolbox off to fix other kids' bikes.

Two dozen of his son's friends and classmates gathered in the dark street outside the family's home Wednesday night. Jaime's best friend, 16-year-old Star Rodriguez, said her favorite memory was when Jaime came to her party Dec. 29 and they danced and sang together.

"He was like a brother to me," she said.

Pakistan To Get New F-16s From Us

ISLAMABAD: The US today said the last batch of new F-16 jets purchased by Pakistan is scheduled to start arriving in the country later this month and contended that there had been no stoppage in its programme to supply the combat aircraft to Islamabad.

A statement issued by the US Embassy described reports in a section of the media about a stoppage in the US-Pakistan F-16 programme as "not accurate".

"Neither Pakistan nor the United States has cancelled the F-16 programme," the statement said.

The last of a batch of new F-16 jets purchased by Pakistan is scheduled to arrive in the country in late January, the statement said.

Several other F-16s purchased by Pakistan from the US are undergoing mid-life upgrades and will arrive in the country "beginning in late January", it said.

Deliveries of the aircraft will continue "throughout this year and next", it added.

The US has almost completely halted all military aid for Pakistan in the wake of string of crises in bilateral relations.

126 Iraqi Civilians Win Legal Bid In Uk For Torture Inquiry

LONDON: Over 120 Iraqi civilians today won a major legal battle in their bid to force a new public inquiry into allegations of torture and inhuman treatment by British soldiers.

The UK high court had previously backed government claims that an inquiry into whether abuse was systematic was not needed as a team had already been set up to look into the allegations.

But three judges of the UK Court of Appeal ordered the ministry of defence (MoD) to reconsider its decision.

The MoD said it would examine the judgment "very carefully", the BBC reported.

Some 128 Iraqis have complained of torture and inhuman and degrading treatment by British soldiers and interrogators in Iraq between March 2003 and December 2008.

Lead claimant Ali Zaki Mousa, from Basra, alleges he endured months of beatings and other abuse in the custody of British soldiers between 2006-07.

Last December the high court ruled a fresh inquiry was unnecessary as the government had set up the Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT) to investigate.

But appeal judges ruled that the IHAT lacked "practical independence" because it included members of the military police, who might themselves be accused of wrongdoing.

They also found that other inquiries had failed to fully meet Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects against inhuman and degrading treatment.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "We will examine the judgment very carefully and consider next steps."

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has until 30 November to decide whether to challenge the ruling in the Supreme Court.

Phil Shiner, lawyer for Iraqi claimants, said the MoD was "deploying every dirty trick in the book" to avoid accountability.

"There must now be a judicial inquiry into the UK's detention policy in south-east Iraq. It is something we have been calling for since 2004.

Two public inquiries have already been launched into similar claims. The first inquiry, into the death of 26-year-old hotel worker Baha Mousa in UK military custody in 2003, reported in September and blamed "corporate failure" at the ministry of defence for the use of banned interrogation methods in Iraq.

In November, 2010, the MoD announced details of a second public hearing into allegations that 19-year-old Hamid Al- Sweady and up to 19 other Iraqis were unlawfully killed and others ill-treated at a British base in May 2004.

Pakistan Amongst Most Violent, Unstable Nations: Republican Presidential Candidates

WASHINGTON: Republican presidential candidates have criticised Pakistan, calling it one of the most violent and unstable nations but remained sharply divided over whether the US should continue to provide aid to Islamabad.

While Texas governor vowed to cut down US aid to Pakistan to zero till it helped US meet its national security interests against terrorists, two other Republican candidates Jon Huntsman and Newt Gingrich argued in favour of more drone attacks against terrorists inside Pakistan.

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, however, argued in favour of continued engagement with Pakistan given that it was a nuclear weapon state.

"Pakistan is a concern. That's the country that ought to keep everybody up at night. You have not (Pak) President (Asif Ali) Zardari in charge but (its Army Chief) General (Ashfaq Pervez) Kayani, over the military, which also is responsible for the ISI.

"You've got the youngest demographic of 160 million people in Pakistan. You've got a madrassa movement," Huntsman said.

"You've got over 100 nuclear weapons. You've got trouble on the border. You've got a nation-state that is a candidate for failure. I say it's a haven for bad behaviour, it's a haven for training the people who seek to do us harm," Huntsman said adding that he was in favour of expanding drone program which would serve US national interests.

Acknowledging that Pakistan has been "the epicentre of dealing with terrorism" Congresswoman Bachmann said that the country has training centres for terrorist outfits.

"They also are one of the most violent, unstable nations that there is," she said.

A member of the intelligence committee in the House of Representatives, she said 15 of the nuclear sites in Pakistan are available or are potentially penetrable by jihadists.

"Six attempts have already been made on nuclear sites. This is more than an existential threat," Bachmann said.

"We have to take this very seriously. The US has to be engaged. It is complicated. We have to recognise that the Chinese are doing everything that they can to be an influential party in Pakistan. We don't want to lose influence," she said.

"...A nation that lies, that does everything possibly that you could imagine wrong -- at the same time, they do share intelligence data with us regarding al-Qaida," she said.

"We need to demand more. The money that we are spending right now is primarily intelligence money to Pakistan. It is helping the US," Bachmann said thus arguing that it was not in the national security interest to snap ties with Pakistan.

"At this point I would continue that aid, but I do think that the Obama policy of keeping your fingers crossed is not working in Pakistan," she said.

However, Texas governor Rick Perry advocated against any aid to Pakistan.

"Until Pakistan clearly shows that they have America's best interests in mind, I would not send them one penny," he vowed.

But Bachmann still argued in favour of engaging Pakistan as the consequences otherwise would be very dangerous for the US.

"We have to recognise what's happening on the ground. There are nuclear weapons all across this nation, and potentially al-Qaida could get a hold of these weapons," she said.

Perry said that US needs to engage in India and Afghanistan.

"We've got Afghanistan and India working in concert right now to leverage Pakistan," he said.

"I think if we would create a trade zone in that part of the world, where you have all of those countries working together, that may be the answer to getting Pakistan to understand that they have to work with all of the countries in that region," the texas governor said.

Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, took a tough approach against Pakistan.

"You tell the Pakistanis: Help us, or get out of the way, but don't complain if we kill people you're not willing to go after on your territory where you have been protecting them," he said.