US to consider giving India further access to Headley

Washington:  The US would consider giving India access to David Headley, who has confessed to his involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks, for additional questioning by its investigating agencies, the State Department has said.

"In the past we've given India full access to Headley, and I think that when a case is in litigation it's impossible to do that. But moving forward, I think we would look for... or consider further access," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said at his daily news conference.

Headley, a Pakistani-American LeT operative, has completed his testimony before a Chicago court conducting the trial of his childhood friend Tahawwur Rana, another key accused in the Mumbai attacks.

Headley has pleaded guilty to 12 terrorism charges related to Mumbai attacks and other plots in the wake of his 2009 arrest in the US.

However, Rana, a Pakistani-Canadian, has maintained that he is not guilty in the charge of "support to terrorism".

During Rana's trial, Headley testified that he had conducted a surveillance of the German Bakery in Pune and identified Chabad houses in Delhi, Pushkar and Pune as potential bombing targets.

Osama death 'a curse for US', warns Al Qaeda

Cairo:  Al Qaeda released a statement on militant Web sites on Friday confirming the death of Osama bin Laden, news agencies reported.

The statement, dated May 3, was signed by "the general leadership" of the group, the Associated Press said.

"We stress that the blood of the holy warrior sheik, Osama bin Laden, God bless him, is precious to us and to all Muslims" the statement said according to the A.P., adding that his death would not "go in vain." The statement also said, "We will remain, God willing, a curse chasing the Americans and their agents, following them outside and inside their countries."

Bin Laden was killed by a United States raid early Monday morning in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

The statement said a voice recording that Bin Laden made a week before his death would be released soon, Reuters reported. The statement also called on the people of Pakistan to rebel against their government and warned of reprisal attacks against America.

"Soon, God willing, their happiness will turn to sadness," the statement said, according to the Associated Press, "their blood will be mingled with their tears."

Support for Osama; anti-US protests across Pakistan

Abbottabad/Peshawar/Quetta:  Thousands of protesters took to the streets across Pakistan on Friday, denouncing the US raid which killed the al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

In Kuchlak near Quetta, close to the Afghan border, protesters chanted "Osama is alive", holding aloft placards with pictures of bin Laden.

"After the martyrdom of Osama, billions, trillions of Osamas will be born," warned Abdullah Sittar Chishti, who works for the pro-Taliban Jamiat Ulema Islam political party.

Some protesters set fire to an American flag.

Further north, in Peshawar, hundreds of people marched through the town after Friday prayers.

Protestors were seen carrying green flags of the Jamat-e-Islami political party, who organised the demonstration.

A local Jamat-e-Islami leader called for "proof or evidence" about the US Special Forces raid on bin Laden's Abbottabad compound, accusing US President Barack Obama of using the raid as part of a ploy to win a second term in office.

"What they want more is to put pressure on the Pakistani government, and Obama wants to win his next election by using this drama," said Shabir Ahmed Khan.

In Abbottabad, the town where bin Laden was captured and killed, another protest saw hundreds taking part.

Waving Jamat-e-Islami party flags, and carrying homemade placards, some people chanted "Osama is alive" and "burn the US parliament".

The leader of Jamat-e-Islami, Mohammad Ibrahim, said supporters had come "on the highways and roads" to Abbottabad to take part in the protest, and condemn "the American assault and attack upon the solidarity and sovereignty of Pakistan"

Protesters also burned tyres in the streets.

Bin Laden, the face of global Islamist militancy, was killed in a firefight in Abbottabad with elite American forces early on Monday, then quickly buried at sea in a low key finale to a furtive decade on the run.

ISI chief Shuja Pasha may step down: Reports

Islamabad:  Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt General Ahmad Shuja Pasha may step down in the wake of widespread criticism of the Pakistani establishment over US special forces killing Osama bin Laden near a key military facility in the garrison city of Abbottabad, according to a media report.

Pasha may quit as the Pakistan government "looks for a fall guy for the bin Laden debacle", unnamed senior officials were quoted as saying by 'The Daily Beast', a news website affiliated to Newsweek magazine.

The senior officials said "they recognise that an important head has to roll and soon" to allay domestic and international anger over bin Laden's presence in Abbottabad, located close to the federal capital of Islamabad.

The officials said the "most likely candidate to be the fall guy is Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha". They said it was "nearly a done deal". Pakistani analysts with close connections to the military agreed. "It would make a lot of sense...It's in his (Pasha's) personal and the national interest to take the heat off," said Lt Gen (retired) Talat Masood, one of Pakistan's leading defence analysts.

An official statement issued after a meeting of Corps Commanders chaired by Army chief Gen Ashfaq
Parvez Kayani said the military admitted its "own shortcomings in developing intelligence on the presence of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan".

 It added that "an investigation has been ordered into the circumstances that led to this situation".

The Daily Beast reported that Pakistanis were furious that the ISI and the powerful military, which control national security policy, "could have been so incompetent not to know that the al Qaeda leader was comfortably holed up in Abbottabad", only 80 km north of Islamabad.

"Never before have the military and the ISI come under such criticism," said Masood.

People are angry that the military, which gets the lion's share of the budget, could be totally unaware that US helicopters had violated Pakistani airspace during the raid that killed bin Laden on Monday.

Pakistani officials, both from the civilian government and the military, have said the US did not inform them about the raid.

"People are outraged...They see this as the fault of the military in which they have invested so much trust," Masood was quoted as saying.

However, a senior ISI officer told The Daily Beast he could not confirm the report and he had no knowledge of Pasha being "pressured into resigning". 

According to some reports in the Pakistani media, Pasha left on Friday for Washington to explain Pakistan`s position on the presence of bin Laden in the country before he was killed in the US raid on May 2.

Cognizant Q1 net up 37.5%; year outlook raised

Cognizant has turned the heat on Wipro for a spot among the top three Indian IT services companies.

Driven by strong demand environment, US-based IT services firm Cognizant on Tuesday posted better-than- expected 37.5 per cent jump in net profit at $208.32 million for the January-March quarter and forecast strong outlook for the second quarter numbers.

The company had a net profit of $208 million, against $151 million last year in the same quarter. Its first quarter revenues touched $1.37 billion, up 43 per cent compared to the same quarter last year.

Cognizant has now indicated that revenue for its June quarter will grow to at least $1.45 billion. That means Cognizant might replace Wipro as the third largest Indian IT company in terms of revenue as Wipro's guidance for the quarter stands at $1.42 billion.

For the year 2011, it expects revenue to grow at 29 per cent from 2010 to $5.92 billion.

"We are pleased with yet another quarter of solid growth as we continue to benefit from a strong demand environment. During this time of significant secular change impacting our clients, we continue to enhance our competitive differentiation," Cognizant President and CEO Francisco D'Souza said in a statement.

Even in the thick of the economic slowdown, the company continued to grow by around 15 percent. This is because of its strong presence in the so called recession-proof segments like Healthcare and an increased focus on manufacturing, retail and logistics during the downturn.

That is now paying off as its banking and financial services revenues are par with Infosys. Both TCS and Infosys have over 40 per cent of their revenues from the financial services segment. Now it is focusing on enhancing presence in newer managed business services like logistics, communications, media and entertainment.

 

Islamic scholars criticize bin Laden's sea burial

Cairo:  Muslim clerics said on Monday that Osama bin Laden's burial at sea was a violation of Islamic tradition that may further provoke militant calls for revenge attacks against American targets.

Although there appears to be some room for debate over the burial - as with many issues within the faith - a wide range of Islamic scholars interpreted it as a humiliating disregard for the standard Muslim practice of placing the body in a grave with the head pointed toward the holy city of Mecca.

Sea burials can be allowed, they said, but only in special cases where the death occurred aboard a ship.

"The Americans want to humiliate Muslims through this burial, and I don't think this is in the interest of the US administration," said Omar Bakri Mohammed, a radical cleric in Lebanon.

A US official said the burial decision was made after concluding that it would have been difficult to find a country willing to accept the remains. There was also speculation about worry that a grave site could have become a rallying point for militants.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive national security matters.

President Barack Obama said the remains had been handled in accordance with Islamic custom, which requires speedy burial, and the Pentagon later said the body was placed into the waters of the northern Arabian Sea after adhering to traditional Islamic procedures - including washing the corpse - aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.

But the Lebanese cleric Mohammed called it a "strategic mistake" that was bound to stoke rage.

In Washington, CIA director Leon Panetta warned that "terrorists almost certainly will attempt to avenge" the killing of the mastermind behind the September 11 attacks.

"Bin Laden is dead," Panetta wrote in a memo to CIA staff. "Al-Qaeda is not."

According to Islamic teachings, the highest honor to be bestowed on the dead is giving the deceased a swift burial, preferably before sunset. Those who die while traveling at sea can have their bodies committed to the bottom of the ocean if they are far off the coast, according to Islamic tradition.

"They can say they buried him at sea, but they cannot say they did it according to Islam," Mohammed al-Qubaisi, Dubai's grand mufti, said about bin Laden's burial. "If the family does not want him, it's really simple in Islam: You dig up a grave anywhere, even on a remote island, you say the prayers and that's it."

"Sea burials are permissible for Muslims in extraordinary circumstances," he added. "This is not one of them."

But Mohammed Qudah, a professor of Islamic law at the University of Jordan, said burying the Saudi-born bin Laden at sea was not forbidden if there was nobody to receive the body and provide a Muslim burial.

"The land and the sea belong to God, who is able to protect and raise the dead at the end of times for Judgment Day," he said. "It's neither true nor correct to claim that there was nobody in the Muslim world ready to receive bin Laden's body."

Clerics in Iraq - where an offshoot of Al-Qaeda is blamed for the death of thousands of people since 2003 - also criticized the US action. One said it only benefited fish.

"If a man dies on a ship that is a long distance from land, then the dead man should be buried at the sea," said Shiite cleric Ibrahim al-Jabari. "But if he dies on land, then he should be buried in the ground, not to be thrown into the sea. Otherwise, this would be only inviting fish to a banquet."

The Islamic tradition of a quick burial was the subject of intense debate in Iraq in 2003 when US forces embalmed the bodies of Saddam Hussein's two sons after they were killed in a firefight. Their bodies were later shown to media.

"What was done by the Americans is forbidden by Islam and might provoke some Muslims," said another Islamic scholar from Iraq, Abdul-Sattar al-Janabi, who preaches at Baghdad's famous Abu Hanifa mosque. "It is not acceptable and it is almost a crime to throw the body of a Muslim man into the sea. The body of bin Laden should have been handed over to his family to look for a country or land to bury him."

Prominent Egyptian Islamic analyst and lawyer Montasser el-Zayat said bin Laden's sea burial was designed to prevent his grave from becoming a shrine. But an option was an
unmarked grave.

"They don't want to see him become a symbol, but he is already a symbol in people's hearts."

Egypt: Hosni Mubarak, sons detained for investigation

Cairo:  Egypt's ousted President Hosni Mubarak was put under detention in his hospital room Wednesday for investigation on accusations of corruption, abuse of power and killings of protesters in a dramatic step Wednesday that brought celebrations from the movement that drove him from office.

Mubarak's two sons, Gamal and Alaa, were also detained for questioning and taken to Cairo's Torah prison, where a string of former top regime figures -- including the former prime minister, ruling party chief and Mubarak's chief of staff -- are already languishing, facing similar investigations on corruption.

The move was brought by enormous public pressure on the ruling military, which was handed power when Mubarak stepped down on Feb. 11. Tens of thousands protested in Cairo's central Tahrir Square on Friday, the biggest rally in weeks, demanding Mubarak and his family be put on trial. Many in the crowd accused the military of protecting the former president.

The detention is a new landmark in the stunning fall of the 82-year-old Mubarak, who only months ago appeared unquestioned in his control of Egypt after nearly 30 years of rule. Even after his fall, he seemed untouchable, living with his family at a palace in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

On Tuesday night, Mubarak was taken to a hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh because of heart troubles, and so that his health could be monitored as he submitted to the first round of questioning by investigators. Hours later, the public prosecutor announced early Wednesday that Mubarak was ordered put under detention for 15 days for investigation. He was to be flown later in the day to a military hospital outside Cairo, where he would remain in detention, a security official in Sharm el-Sheikh said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.

Later Wednesday, prosecutors announced a new arrest -- that of former parliament speaker Fathi Surour, a prominent ruling party figure who led the legislature since 1991 until it was dissolved following Mubarak's fall. He was ordered detained for 15 days for investigation on allegations of amassing wealth and misuse of power.

Mubarak's detention also marks a new chapter in Egypt's still unsure transition to what protesters hope will be a democratic post-Mubarak future.

Protesters had pushed hard for Mubarak's prosecution, demanding what they called a clear signal that the corruption that pervaded his nearly 30-year rule would be definitively broken. Public outrage was widespread over allegations that large fortunes were skimmed off by top regime officials through shady deals over the years.

Beyond the anger has been the fear that Mubarak cronies are manoeuvring to regain power as the country tries to work out democratic rule -- and that the ruling military was not taking action to prevent them, or was even abetting them.

"I was so happy in the morning when I heard the news," said Ahmed Maher, co-founder of the April 6 group, one of the movements that led the unprecedented 18-day protest movement against Mubarak.

"All people are very happy because this step reassured them after a period of doubts and stagnation," referring to doubts over the military's intentions, he told The Associated Press. Worries over the military were intensified by a fierce pre-dawn raid on protesters in Tahrir on Saturday that killed at least one person.

Still, he said, Egypt faces a long road to ensure the transition period leads to real democracy. "Trying Mubarak and his regime is very important but what is super important is the political future of Egypt and what kind of political system we want to have," he said.

The prosecutor's announcement gave a momentary easing of tensions between the military and protesters. Following the prosecutor's announcement, the coalition of youth groups that have organized the protests said it is cancelling a planned new mass demonstration in Tahrir Square on Friday to demand Mubarak's prosecution.

But the coalition underlined that there are still unfulfilled demands, including the dissolving of the former ruling party and the sacking of Mubarak-appointed governors as well as university deans and local city councils, both seen as levers of his regime.

Activist Amr Bassiouny said in a Tweet that the detention was not the protesters' primary goal but "free speech, free assembly, free press -- no torture, real democracy, end of lies."

Since Mubarak's fall, activists have complained that the Armed Forces Supreme Council, the body of top generals that now rules Egypt, has been dictating the post-Mubarak transition without consultation. Relations have rapidly soured over past week, amid reports of abuses by the military that reminded some of Mubarak's rule -- including torture of detained protesters and the imprisoning of an activist for criticizing the army.

Protesters have criticized the army for being too close to the old regime and not swiftly bringing Mubarak to trial while hundreds of protesters remain in military detention, some convicted in swift trials before military courts.

In its announcement, posted on the social networking site Facebook, the public prosecutor said Mubarak was under investigation into allegations of assaults, killings and injury of protesters, corruption, squandering of public funds, and the abuse of authority for personal gain.

Hundreds were killed during the 18-day uprising against Mubarak, when police opened fire and cracked down on the crowds. Officials say 365 were killed, but a count by the Front to Defend Egypt Protesters, a group that provides medical and legal assistance to the demonstrators, said 685 people died as of March 7.

On Sunday, Mubarak defended himself in a pre-recorded message where he sounded as defiant as he did up to his last hours in power. He said he was hurt by the corruption allegations against him and his family, insisted he had not abused his authorities and invited investigators to check his assets.

It was his first address to the people in the two months since his ouster. He has kept a low profile since he was ousted, living on his compound in Sharm el-Sheikh. He and his family were banned from traveling and their assets frozen.

Shortly after, the prosecutor general issued a summons for Mubarak to appear for questioning.


Soon after the hospitalization Tuesday night and in a sign that his ailment might not be very serious, Justice Minister Mohammed el-Guindi said Mubarak was then questioned in his suite for his role in the violence against protesters. The ministry statement on Facebook said Mubarak's lawyers and a medical team were present during the interrogation. Mubarak has a history of minor ailments and underwent gallbladder surgery in Germany in March last year.

While the ex-president was taken to the hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh, where he has been living since being removed from power, his sons were taken for questioning to the nearby courthouse.

An angry crowd of 2,000 people had gathered outside the hospital late Tuesday, demanding the sons' arrest. Then, in the early hours Wednesday, head of provincial security in the South Sinai told the crowd that Gamal and Alaa would be detained.

"Brothers, whatever you wanted, you have got ... 15 days," said Maj. Gen. Mohammed el-Khatib, as the crowd erupted in cheers.

As a police van with drawn curtains took away the brothers, the crowd pelted it with water bottles, stones and their flip-flops, as a sign of contempt.

Over the past decade, Gamal had risen to the top ranks of the ruling party and was widely seen as Mubarak's designated succession. Anger over that prospect helped galvanize Egypt's protest movement. Gamal brought into government and the ruling party a number of top businessmen who led an economic liberalization program that brought in billions in foreign investment but has also widened the gap between rich and poor. Several of those businessman-politicians now face trial or investigation for allegedly using their positions to amassing fortunes. His brother Alaa is a prominent businessman.

Egyptian stock market's posted moderate gains Wednesday with investors buoyed by news that Mubarak and his sons have been detained. The market had been relatively stable in the days after its reopening late last month, following a nearly two-month closure linked to the anti-Mubarak uprising.