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Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Iran 'frees' diplomat in Pakistan


Iran says its agents have in a cross-border operation freed a diplomat kidnapped in Pakistan last November.
"The Iranian intelligence agents, in a successful operation, brought home the Iranian diplomat who was abducted in Peshawar, Pakistan," Heydar Moslehi, the Iranian intelligence minister, told reporters on Tuesday. Gunmen had snatched Heshmatollah Attarzadeh on November 13, 2008 in Peshawar, northwest Pakistan. He was on his way to work in the commercial service of Iran's consulate in the city when his car was sprayed with bullets and his local guard killed.

Pakistan Asks Swiss for Zardari Probe

 Pakistan's anticorruption agency on Wednesday asked Swiss authorities to reopen a graft investigation of President Asif Ali Zardari on the orders of the country's top judge. The move ratchets up the battle between Mr. Zardari and Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, whose court in December overturned a 2007 amnesty that shielded the president and thousands of other politicians from corruption investigations. Geneva's public prosecutor Daniel Zappelli said Wednesday that Swiss authorities hadn't yet received the Pakistani request, adding that he couldn't reopen the case against Mr. Zardari because he enjoys immunity as a head of state, the Associated Press reported. Mr. Zardari spent 11 years in prison in Pakistan on corruption allegations, but he hasn't been convicted in a Pakistani court. He has consistently denied allegations. In 2003, a court in Geneva found Mr. Zardari and his wife, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, guilty of laundering kickbacks from a Swiss company, but the verdict was overturned on appeal. A subsequent Swiss investigation into the allegations was dropped in 2008 at the request of Pakistan, following the amnesty decree. But since Pakistan's Supreme Court struck down the decree in December, it has been pressing Pakistan's National Accountability Bureau anticorruption agency to revive case files of the thousands of politicians and former officials who had been shielded by the amnesty. Mr. Chaudhry on Tuesday gave agency Chairman Naveed Ahsan 24 hours to reopen the case against Mr. Zardari or face jail. Mr. Ahsan said on Wednesday he had sent a letter to Swiss authorities asking for the reopening of the investigation of money-laundering allegations against Mr. Zardari.

Miami: Federer suffers surprise defeat


The Swiss top seed Roger Federer suffered upset defeat to Czech Tomas Berdych in the fourth round of the Open in Miami. Fourth seed Rafael Nadal beat fellow Spaniard and 15th seed David Ferrer 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 to qualify for the quarter final. Federer was beaten after a tight battle 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (8-6). American star Andy Roddick has qualified for the quarter finals, he fought back from 4-1 down to defeat Germany's Benjamin Becker 7-6 (7-4) 6-3. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who trounced Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain 6-2 6-2. Robin Soderling of Sweden progressed with a 6-0 6-7 (3-7) 6-2 victory over Chile's Fernando Gonzalez, while Mardy Fish of the U.S. was forced to retire while trailing 6-1 1-0 against 13th seed Mikhail Youzhny. In the women's tournament, Venus Williams advanced to the semi-finals with a 6-3 6-1 victory over Agnieszka Radwanska. She will face France's former Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli, who beat Yanina Wickmayer 6-4, 7-5.

Chechen rebel claims Moscow attacks


Doku Umarov, a Chechen separatist leader, has claimed responsibility for the suicide bombings in the Moscow metro that killed at least 39 people on Monday, according to a video posted on an unofficial rebel website. Umarov, who styles himself as the "Emir of the Caucasus Emirate", said in the video, posted onwww.kavkazcenter.com on Wednesday, that he had personally ordered the attacks and that they would continue. In February, Umarov claimed responsibility for the bombing of a passenger train travelling between Moscow and St Petersburg in November, warning that "the war is coming to their cities" and that "the zone of military operations will be extended to the territory of Russia". Russian officials have blamed Muslim separatist fighters from the North Caucasus for the Moscow attacks, the deadliest in Russia's capital for six years.

Why the Bombings Weren't Breaking News in Russia


The news of the subway suicide bombings in Moscow on Monday — Russia's worst terrorist attack in five years — led news broadcasts around the world almost immediately after the event unfolded. But in Russia, viewers who tuned in to the country's three main television networks that morning had little reason to suspect anything was amiss — they were watching shows about cooking and makeovers. The networks, all of which are controlled by the government or state-owned companies, stayed with their regularly scheduled programming as the tragedy unfolded, waiting for up to two hours to provide their first substantive reports on the attacks, which killed at least 39 people. Bloggers and political commentators say the slow response of the networks — Channel One, Rossia 1 and NTV — is indicative of the state of television journalism in Russia today: the major broadcasters have been so cowed by the Kremlin over the past decade, they're incapable of effectively covering events of vital national importance. "This is a city with millions of people," says Arina Borodina, a television critic with the independent-minded Kommersantnewspaper in Moscow. "Can you imagine an attack during rush hour in New York or Paris, and a television channel doesn't show anything for two hours?"