SOUTH ASIA

PRESIDENT OF PAKISTAN ANNOUNCES HE’LL STAY ON PAST 2007

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Pervez Musharraf will stay on as Pakistan’s president beyond 2007, a government spokesman said yesterday, despite earlier indications the military chief would step down by then as leader of this key American ally in the war on terrorism. The information minister, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, said lawmakers would give Mr. Musharraf a mandate to remain president after the next parliamentary elections are held in 2007. Mr. Musharraf’s mandate as president is set to end that year, but the parliament currently has a majority of pro-Musharraf lawmakers.

“Musharraf will remain the president of Pakistan even after 2007,” Mr.Ahmed said. After seizing power in a bloodless military coup in 1999, Mr. Musharraf held elections in 2002, but his failure to resign as the army chief in December 2004 as promised has raised doubts about his commitment to democracy.

– Associated Press

EAST ASIA

SOUTH AND NORTH KOREA CANCEL JOINT LUNCH AS TALKS SOUR

SEOUL, South Korea – The first direct talks between the two Koreas in 10 months showed signs of souring yesterday, with delegates canceling plans to eat lunch together and South Korea reporting no progress in its push to get the communist North back to the nuclear bargaining table.

The meeting came amid heightened concerns over North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. Pyongyang said last week it removed fuel rods from a reactor – a step toward extracting weapons-grade plutonium.

Hopes for a breakthrough faded yesterday, when the South reported no progress on the nuclear issue and the two delegations – scheduled for a working lunch before ending their second and final day of talks – suddenly announced they would eat separately.

However, the delegations remained at the North Korean border village of Kaesong long after the scheduled 4 p.m. finish, and did not issue a statement late yesterday. A statement was expected this morning at the earliest.

– Associated Press

EASTERN EUROPE

RUSSIAN COURT FINDS KHODORKOVSKY GUILTY

MOSCOW – A Russian court found oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky and a business partner guilty yesterday on multiple charges of tax evasion, fraud, and embezzlement but withheld a formal verdict and sentencing.

“The guilt of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev has been confirmed in case materials and witness testimonies,” the judge, Irina Kolesnikova, told a Moscow court before adjourning for the day.

Final verdicts on the seven charges were expected to be announced in subsequent sessions later this week. The court reconvenes today at the climax of a trial regarded by many as orchestrated by the Kremlin and President Putin to cut the politically ambitious oligarch and his Yukos business empire down to size.

If convicted, Mr. Khodorkovsky, 41, could receive a jail term of up to 10 years, with prosecutors poised to bring more charges against him later.

– The Daily Telegraph

WESTERN EUROPE

BRITISH JUDGE RULES TO EXTRADITE SUSPECT TO AMERICA

LONDON – A judge ruled yesterday that a British man can be extradited to America to face charges in Connecticut of supporting terrorism, conspiring to kill Americans, and running a Web site that American authorities say was used to fund terrorists.

America has promised not to seek the death penalty for Babar Ahmad. Home Secretary Charles Clarke, the top British official in charge of law and order, has 60 days to decide whether Mr. Ahmad will be extradited.

Mr. Ahmad’s lawyers said they would appeal the ruling. The 31-year-old computer specialist has been in custody since his August arrest on an American extradition warrant. Acknowledging that the case was “difficult and troubling,” Judge Timothy Workman said he accepted assurances by American authorities that they would not seek the death penalty or declare Mr. Ahmad an “enemy combatant,” a category applied to prisoners at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and one that affords fewer legal protections. Mr. Ahmad’s lawyer, Muddassar Arani, said her client “has been made a scapegoat.”

– Associated Press