NEW DELHI (AFP) - – India's BlackBerry users are holding their breath as they wait to see if the government carries out a threat this week to ban encrypted messages sent on the phones due to fears of misuse by militants.
The government, worried that militants could use BlackBerry's heavily encrypted services to plan attacks, warned earlier this month it would start blocking emails and instant messages sent on the smartphones unless the company comes up with a way for security agencies to decode the traffic by August 31.
There were indications late last week the deadline might be pushed back beyond Tuesday's deadline as BlackBerry's Canadian makers, Research in Motion (RIM), scrambled to satisfy the authorities.
Minister of state for communications Sachin Pilot said he was "hopeful" a plan could be worked out with RIM.
The government -- keen to project India as a fast-growing, investor-friendly economy -- is "not in the business of shutting down services", Pilot said, but stressed New Delhi was also not ready to sacrifice its security interests.
"These concerns have been addressed in other parts of the world. I see no reason why the government and (security) agencies should take any risk at all as far as technology (is concerned)."
Analysts have noted other security-conscious nations such as China and Russia appear to be satisfied over their intelligence agencies' level of access to BlackBerry communications.
G.K. Pillai, the top bureaucrat in the home ministry, was due to hold a department meeting Monday to take a call on India's next step. Officials have suggested RIM might be given a one or two-month extension of the deadline.
BlackBerry users said they hoped a shutdown could be averted.
"Its as essential as food, water and shelter. A BlackBerry is a necessity for all the corporate guys, and the government can't afford to do that (a ban), thats for sure," said marketing manager Amit Deshmukh.
But the government has already told cellular operators to be prepared to shut off BlackBerry's corporate messaging services. Non-corporate emails are less heavily encrypted and can already be accessed by Indian security agencies.
For RIM, whose shares closed at a 52-week low on Friday of 45.99 dollars in New York, striking a deal with India is crucial and would help ensure the company is not shut out of the world's fastest-growing cellular market.
India, which has 1.1 million BlackBerry users, would be the first country to curb its services. But RIM is also facing a threatened ban by the United Arab Emirates and is negotiating with Saudi Arabia on security issues.
In a bid to head off a showdown, RIM offered Thursday to set up an "industry forum" to look at how to prevent misuse of the encrypted service while safeguarding corporate privacy.
RIM and analysts insist the company is unable to comply with demands to hand over codes allowing interception by security agencies. RIM says it has no "master key" to unlock encryption codes of clients which are set at the user level and argues the issue is an industry-wide concern.
"The industry forum would work closely with the Indian government and focus on developing recommendations for policies and processes aimed at preventing the misuse of strong encryption technologies," RIM said.
"Banning one solution, such as the BlackBerry solution, would be ineffective" and also "severely limit the effectiveness and productivity of Indias corporations," RIM added.
"They are essentially trying to educate the government so it can stay ahead of the technology -- militants are not going to be going around using corporate emails, there are more sophisticated methods," Kunal Bajaj, director India of telecom consulting firm Analysys Mason, told AFP.
"I honestly do not think India will shut BlackBerry services down, it's just taking a bit of time to see what are the options and how to get what they're looking for," he added.
Nareshchandra Singh, principal research analyst at Gartner global consultancy, said there "could be some extension, but ultimately if the government doesn't get what it wants it could come to a ban."
Sunday, August 29, 2010
North Korean leader prolongs China visit: report
SEOUL (AFP) - – North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il appears headed for a third destination in China rather than returning home from a surprise trip believed linked to his country's succession process, a report said Sunday.
Kim's special train left the northeastern city of Changchun late Saturday in what was believed to be a departure for home, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.
But as of Sunday morning there were no signs the train had returned to the North via the Chinese border cities of Dandong or Jian, the agency quoted a diplomatic source in Beijing as saying.
A source in the Chinese city of Yanji told Yonhap the local government was preparing to receive a special guest. "It is highly likely that it would be Chairman Kim," the source said.
Kim has not previously visited Yanji, capital of the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture which is part of China's economic development plan for its northeastern provinces.
Yonhap said Kim's other likely destinations in Yanbian include the towns of Tumen and Hunchun near the border with the North.
The South's cable news channel YTN reported that work to clean up main streets and control traffic in Tumen began Sunday morning. It said some 10 large sedans have been waiting at a train station in Namyang, a North Korean town bordering Tumen, since early Saturday afternoon.
South Korean media has reported that Kim, 68, is believed to have met President Hu Jintao in Changchun, during an apparent mission to seek China's support for an eventual handover of power to his youngest son Jong-Un.
The leader suffered a stroke in August 2008 and since then has speeded up plans for a power transfer in the hardline communist state.
China is the impoverished North's sole major ally and its economic lifeline. It chairs six-nation talks on the North's nuclear disarmament and has been pressing Pyongyang to return to the forum which it quit in April 2009.
The current visit is Kim's second to China in about three months, even though he rarely travels abroad. He met Hu during his previous visit in May.
The trip went ahead despite last week's visit to Pyongyang by former US President Jimmy Carter to secure the release of a jailed American. It was not known whether Jong-Un, believed to be aged about 27, accompanied his father.
On the first day on Thursday, Kim paid a visit to Jilin's Yuwen Middle School which his father, North Korea's founder Kim Il-Sung, attended from 1927 to 1930.
Yonhap said a visit by Kim to the Yanbian region may be related to economic cooperation plans.
Beijing is reportedly seeking permission to extend its lease of the North's northeastern port of Rajin which provides access to the Sea of Japan (East Sea).
China currently has a 10-year lease on Rajin, which also borders Russia, Li Longxi, governor of the Yanbian prefecture, said during China's annual legislative meeting in March.
He said the use of the port would make it easier to ship coal from northeast China to southern China and Japan.
Official media in Beijing and Pyongyang have said nothing about Kim's visit, which may also be aimed at securing much-needed food and construction aid following recent severe floods.
Seoul officials said they would seek information from China as soon as Kim returns home.
"Customarily, China has briefed related countries about the result of Kim's visit (to China) once he returns home, and South Korea is certainly the number one priority in this matter," a foreign ministry spokesman told AFP.
"We expect the same process to take place very soon, possibly this week."
Kim's special train left the northeastern city of Changchun late Saturday in what was believed to be a departure for home, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.But as of Sunday morning there were no signs the train had returned to the North via the Chinese border cities of Dandong or Jian, the agency quoted a diplomatic source in Beijing as saying.
A source in the Chinese city of Yanji told Yonhap the local government was preparing to receive a special guest. "It is highly likely that it would be Chairman Kim," the source said.
Kim has not previously visited Yanji, capital of the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture which is part of China's economic development plan for its northeastern provinces.
Yonhap said Kim's other likely destinations in Yanbian include the towns of Tumen and Hunchun near the border with the North.
The South's cable news channel YTN reported that work to clean up main streets and control traffic in Tumen began Sunday morning. It said some 10 large sedans have been waiting at a train station in Namyang, a North Korean town bordering Tumen, since early Saturday afternoon.
South Korean media has reported that Kim, 68, is believed to have met President Hu Jintao in Changchun, during an apparent mission to seek China's support for an eventual handover of power to his youngest son Jong-Un.
The leader suffered a stroke in August 2008 and since then has speeded up plans for a power transfer in the hardline communist state.
China is the impoverished North's sole major ally and its economic lifeline. It chairs six-nation talks on the North's nuclear disarmament and has been pressing Pyongyang to return to the forum which it quit in April 2009.
The current visit is Kim's second to China in about three months, even though he rarely travels abroad. He met Hu during his previous visit in May.
The trip went ahead despite last week's visit to Pyongyang by former US President Jimmy Carter to secure the release of a jailed American. It was not known whether Jong-Un, believed to be aged about 27, accompanied his father.
On the first day on Thursday, Kim paid a visit to Jilin's Yuwen Middle School which his father, North Korea's founder Kim Il-Sung, attended from 1927 to 1930.
Yonhap said a visit by Kim to the Yanbian region may be related to economic cooperation plans.
Beijing is reportedly seeking permission to extend its lease of the North's northeastern port of Rajin which provides access to the Sea of Japan (East Sea).
China currently has a 10-year lease on Rajin, which also borders Russia, Li Longxi, governor of the Yanbian prefecture, said during China's annual legislative meeting in March.
He said the use of the port would make it easier to ship coal from northeast China to southern China and Japan.
Official media in Beijing and Pyongyang have said nothing about Kim's visit, which may also be aimed at securing much-needed food and construction aid following recent severe floods.
Seoul officials said they would seek information from China as soon as Kim returns home.
"Customarily, China has briefed related countries about the result of Kim's visit (to China) once he returns home, and South Korea is certainly the number one priority in this matter," a foreign ministry spokesman told AFP.
"We expect the same process to take place very soon, possibly this week."
5 kidnapped Afghan campaign workers found dead
KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghan officials said they found the bodies Sunday of five kidnapped campaign workers for a female parliamentary candidate in the western province of Herat.
The five were snatched Wednesday by armed men who stopped their two-vehicle convoy as it was traveling through remote countryside. Five others traveling in the vehicles had earlier been set free, according to a man who answered the phone at the home of candidate Fawzya Galani and declined to give his name.
Residents of Herat's Adraskan district reported finding the bodies early Sunday and they were later transported to the local morgue, district chief Nasar Ahmad Popul said.
No one has claimed responsibility for the killings, although Taliban insurgents have been waging a campaign of murder and intimidation in hopes of sabotaging the Sept. 18 polls.
Galani may be a particular target of insurgents because she is one of only a few female candidates for the 249 seats in the lower house of parliament.
Also in Herat, parliamentary candidate Abdul Manan was shot and killed Saturday on his way to a mosque by an attacker traveling by motorbike.
A number of other candidates and their assistants have been killed, injured or threatened around the country.
Many Afghans say they don't plan to take part in the voting, either because of safety concerns or cynicism with ineffective government and disgust over widespread corruption.
Electoral officials plan to open 5,897 polling sites for the parliamentary elections, having discarded more than 900 proposed venues because army and police could not guarantee security. Last year, 6,167 voting centers nominally operated during presidential polls.
The five were snatched Wednesday by armed men who stopped their two-vehicle convoy as it was traveling through remote countryside. Five others traveling in the vehicles had earlier been set free, according to a man who answered the phone at the home of candidate Fawzya Galani and declined to give his name.
Residents of Herat's Adraskan district reported finding the bodies early Sunday and they were later transported to the local morgue, district chief Nasar Ahmad Popul said.
No one has claimed responsibility for the killings, although Taliban insurgents have been waging a campaign of murder and intimidation in hopes of sabotaging the Sept. 18 polls.
Galani may be a particular target of insurgents because she is one of only a few female candidates for the 249 seats in the lower house of parliament.
Also in Herat, parliamentary candidate Abdul Manan was shot and killed Saturday on his way to a mosque by an attacker traveling by motorbike.
A number of other candidates and their assistants have been killed, injured or threatened around the country.
Many Afghans say they don't plan to take part in the voting, either because of safety concerns or cynicism with ineffective government and disgust over widespread corruption.
Electoral officials plan to open 5,897 polling sites for the parliamentary elections, having discarded more than 900 proposed venues because army and police could not guarantee security. Last year, 6,167 voting centers nominally operated during presidential polls.
Obama says Iraq war 'ending,' calls country 'sovereign'
VINEYARD HAVEN, Massachusetts (AFP) - – Three days before the official end of the US combat mission in Iraq, US President Barack Obama said on Saturday Iraq was now a "sovereign" nation free to determine its own destiny.
"On Tuesday, after more than seven years, the United States of America will end its combat mission in Iraq and take an important step forward in responsibly ending the Iraq war," Obama said in his weekly radio address.
The president, who is spending his last full vacation day Saturday on the island of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, is to deliver on Tuesday a nationally-televised Oval Office address on Iraq.
"As a candidate for this office, I pledged I would end this war," he said Saturday. "As president, that is what I am doing. We have brought home more than 90,000 troops since I took office."
US troop numbers in Iraq fell below 50,000 last Tuesday in line with Obama's instructions as part of a "responsible drawdown" of troops, seven years on from the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.
American troop levels are now less than a third of the peak figure of around 170,000 during the US military "surge" of 2007, when Iraq was in the midst of a brutal Shiite-Sunni sectarian war that cost thousands of lives.
But more than 4,400 US servicemen and women have lost their lives in this war since it began in 2003, according to an AFP count based on data from www.icasualties.org, an independent website.
And violence in the country, while down from the worst levels seen at the height of sectarian strife, continues to threaten stability in the nation, spooking investors, terrorizing religious minorities and raising the specter of a return to chaos after the end of US combat operations.
Particularly vulnerable are the Sunni Arab militiamen who sided with American soldiers against Al-Qaeda but now fear a surge in bloody revenge attacks against them.
The fighters have already been targeted in a number of attacks, including three killed Friday night in northern Iraq.
The US combat mission in Iraq is to officially end on August 31. The remaining US troops, who will have a support and training mission, are scheduled to leave the country by the end of 2011.
"But the bottom line is this: the war is ending," Obama said. "Like any sovereign, independent nation, Iraq is free to chart its own course. And by the end of next year, all of our troops will be home."
The president also used his address to call on Americans to honor those who have served in Iraq by sending them messages via such social networking Internet sites as YouTube, Facebook, Flickr or Twitter.
A strong critic of the war, Obama has always drawn a distinction between former Republican president George W. Bush's decision to invade Iraq and the daily fights US soldiers were waging in the country.
Addressing disabled veterans in Atlanta, Georgia, earlier this month, Obama noted that the Iraq war had sparked a vigorous debate in the country and that there were American patriots both in favor of and against the war.
But "what this new generation of veterans must know is this: our nations commitment to all who wear its uniform is a sacred trust that is as old as our republic itself," the president said Saturday. "It is one that, as president, I consider a moral obligation to uphold."
"On Tuesday, after more than seven years, the United States of America will end its combat mission in Iraq and take an important step forward in responsibly ending the Iraq war," Obama said in his weekly radio address.
The president, who is spending his last full vacation day Saturday on the island of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, is to deliver on Tuesday a nationally-televised Oval Office address on Iraq.
"As a candidate for this office, I pledged I would end this war," he said Saturday. "As president, that is what I am doing. We have brought home more than 90,000 troops since I took office."
US troop numbers in Iraq fell below 50,000 last Tuesday in line with Obama's instructions as part of a "responsible drawdown" of troops, seven years on from the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.
American troop levels are now less than a third of the peak figure of around 170,000 during the US military "surge" of 2007, when Iraq was in the midst of a brutal Shiite-Sunni sectarian war that cost thousands of lives.
But more than 4,400 US servicemen and women have lost their lives in this war since it began in 2003, according to an AFP count based on data from www.icasualties.org, an independent website.
And violence in the country, while down from the worst levels seen at the height of sectarian strife, continues to threaten stability in the nation, spooking investors, terrorizing religious minorities and raising the specter of a return to chaos after the end of US combat operations.
Particularly vulnerable are the Sunni Arab militiamen who sided with American soldiers against Al-Qaeda but now fear a surge in bloody revenge attacks against them.
The fighters have already been targeted in a number of attacks, including three killed Friday night in northern Iraq.
The US combat mission in Iraq is to officially end on August 31. The remaining US troops, who will have a support and training mission, are scheduled to leave the country by the end of 2011.
"But the bottom line is this: the war is ending," Obama said. "Like any sovereign, independent nation, Iraq is free to chart its own course. And by the end of next year, all of our troops will be home."
The president also used his address to call on Americans to honor those who have served in Iraq by sending them messages via such social networking Internet sites as YouTube, Facebook, Flickr or Twitter.
A strong critic of the war, Obama has always drawn a distinction between former Republican president George W. Bush's decision to invade Iraq and the daily fights US soldiers were waging in the country.
Addressing disabled veterans in Atlanta, Georgia, earlier this month, Obama noted that the Iraq war had sparked a vigorous debate in the country and that there were American patriots both in favor of and against the war.
But "what this new generation of veterans must know is this: our nations commitment to all who wear its uniform is a sacred trust that is as old as our republic itself," the president said Saturday. "It is one that, as president, I consider a moral obligation to uphold."
US conservatives rally to 'restore America'
WASHINGTON (AFP) - – Tens of thousands of people gathered at the site where Martin Luther King Jr gave his "I Have a Dream" speech 47 years ago to hear right-wing icons call on them to "restore America."
In wide-ranging and often religious terms, Fox News host talks show host Glenn Beck told Americans that their country was "at a crossroads" and urged them to return to "faith, hope and charity."
"Today we must decide, who are we? What is it we believe? We must advance or perish. I choose advance," he said to a cheering crowd that stretched from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument about a mile (1.6 kilometers) away.
Beck, who hosted the event to "restore America's honor," said he was told that between 300,000 and 500,000 people attended the event. But an AirPhotosLive.com estimate for CBS News based on aerial photographs of the rally said only 87,000 people showed up.
An average of two million viewers watch Beck's show, which airs daily on weekdays.
Many streets in downtown Washington were closed off and patrolled heavily by police, while rally participants packed Metro stations before heading to the site with folding chairs, baseball caps, cameras, strollers and children in tow.
The rally, billed as a non-political, faith-based salute to US troops and values, attracted many members of the conservative Tea Party movement, who eschewed their usual practice by honoring organizers' requests to not bring signs.
Hardly an African American was in sight.
The rally drew criticism because it was staged at the very same location where King made his call for racial equality nearly half a century ago.
Critics said Beck and fellow conservative icon Sarah Palin's political stances were sharply at odds with King's civil rights legacy.
Black leaders, including the Reverend Al Sharpton, held a competing march and accused Beck of misrepresenting the slain civil rights leader's message of equality among all races.
"The folks who criticize our marches are now trying to march themselves," Sharpton said. "They may have the Mall, but we have the message. They may have the platform, but we have the dream. The dream was not states' rights."
Beck said the timing was coincidental, and argued he had every right to commemorate King's struggle.
"Whites don't own Abraham Lincoln. Blacks don't own Martin Luther King," he said earlier this month.
The event came ahead of congressional elections in November, when Republicans hope to wrest control of Congress away from President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats.
The rally's goal was loosely defined, with Beck telling viewers of his Fox News talk show -- a must-watch for many US conservatives -- that it would pay tribute to "heroes, our heritage and our future."
Lou Tribus, a 67-year-old retiree, said he had traveled hundreds of miles (kilometers) from Tennessee in the south for the rally.
"We want to see our nation return to its foundation principles," he told AFP.
Another attendee, who only gave her fist name, Dawn, said she wanted to "bring back the values that my country was founded on."
Palin, a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2012, shared top billing at the event with Beck. Avid supporters chanted "USA! USA! USA!" as she appeared on stage.
She took a jab at Democrats -- Obama chief among them -- who have campaigned on promises of change in US politics.
"We must not fundamentally transform America as some would want," she said. "We must restore America and restore her honor."
Beck focused heavily on the need for Americans to embrace religion.
"We will be the shelter for the world, because the storm is coming. It is not just an American storm, it is a human storm. It is a global storm," he warned, adding that Americans would be called on to "save" the world.
"God is the answer and he always has been."
Beck's critics said it was inappropriate for a man who has accused Obama, an African-American, of having "a deep-seated hatred of white people," to stage a rally on the anniversary of King's speech.
The August 28, 1963 address drew a quarter million people and was designed to raise Americans' awareness of racial inequities that made blacks second-class citizens.
The predominantly white US conservative movement, now most visibly represented by the Tea Party, has faced persistent allegations of racism, after group members held up openly racist signs at rallies.
Dawn, 47, a small business owner from northern Virginia, expressed surprise at criticism of the rally.
"I think Martin Luther King would agree with us," she said. "I don't see why they think we shouldn't be here today."
In wide-ranging and often religious terms, Fox News host talks show host Glenn Beck told Americans that their country was "at a crossroads" and urged them to return to "faith, hope and charity."
"Today we must decide, who are we? What is it we believe? We must advance or perish. I choose advance," he said to a cheering crowd that stretched from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument about a mile (1.6 kilometers) away.
Beck, who hosted the event to "restore America's honor," said he was told that between 300,000 and 500,000 people attended the event. But an AirPhotosLive.com estimate for CBS News based on aerial photographs of the rally said only 87,000 people showed up.
An average of two million viewers watch Beck's show, which airs daily on weekdays.
Many streets in downtown Washington were closed off and patrolled heavily by police, while rally participants packed Metro stations before heading to the site with folding chairs, baseball caps, cameras, strollers and children in tow.
The rally, billed as a non-political, faith-based salute to US troops and values, attracted many members of the conservative Tea Party movement, who eschewed their usual practice by honoring organizers' requests to not bring signs.
Hardly an African American was in sight.
The rally drew criticism because it was staged at the very same location where King made his call for racial equality nearly half a century ago.
Critics said Beck and fellow conservative icon Sarah Palin's political stances were sharply at odds with King's civil rights legacy.
Black leaders, including the Reverend Al Sharpton, held a competing march and accused Beck of misrepresenting the slain civil rights leader's message of equality among all races.
"The folks who criticize our marches are now trying to march themselves," Sharpton said. "They may have the Mall, but we have the message. They may have the platform, but we have the dream. The dream was not states' rights."
Beck said the timing was coincidental, and argued he had every right to commemorate King's struggle.
"Whites don't own Abraham Lincoln. Blacks don't own Martin Luther King," he said earlier this month.
The event came ahead of congressional elections in November, when Republicans hope to wrest control of Congress away from President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats.
The rally's goal was loosely defined, with Beck telling viewers of his Fox News talk show -- a must-watch for many US conservatives -- that it would pay tribute to "heroes, our heritage and our future."
Lou Tribus, a 67-year-old retiree, said he had traveled hundreds of miles (kilometers) from Tennessee in the south for the rally.
"We want to see our nation return to its foundation principles," he told AFP.
Another attendee, who only gave her fist name, Dawn, said she wanted to "bring back the values that my country was founded on."
Palin, a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2012, shared top billing at the event with Beck. Avid supporters chanted "USA! USA! USA!" as she appeared on stage.
She took a jab at Democrats -- Obama chief among them -- who have campaigned on promises of change in US politics.
"We must not fundamentally transform America as some would want," she said. "We must restore America and restore her honor."
Beck focused heavily on the need for Americans to embrace religion.
"We will be the shelter for the world, because the storm is coming. It is not just an American storm, it is a human storm. It is a global storm," he warned, adding that Americans would be called on to "save" the world.
"God is the answer and he always has been."
Beck's critics said it was inappropriate for a man who has accused Obama, an African-American, of having "a deep-seated hatred of white people," to stage a rally on the anniversary of King's speech.
The August 28, 1963 address drew a quarter million people and was designed to raise Americans' awareness of racial inequities that made blacks second-class citizens.
The predominantly white US conservative movement, now most visibly represented by the Tea Party, has faced persistent allegations of racism, after group members held up openly racist signs at rallies.
Dawn, 47, a small business owner from northern Virginia, expressed surprise at criticism of the rally.
"I think Martin Luther King would agree with us," she said. "I don't see why they think we shouldn't be here today."
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Experts not consulted over Lockerbie bomber's release
LONDON — Four cancer specialists who were closely involved in the Lockerbie bomber's treatment have said they were not consulted before his release, a report said Sunday.
One of the experts said he was "surprised" that his advice was not sought before Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi was freed in August last year, in comments to The Sunday Times newspaper.
None of the medics, who were working for the national health service when they dealt with Megrahi, said they signed off on a prognosis stating that the bomber had only three months to live, said the report.
The Scottish government freed him on compassionate grounds because he was suffering from terminal cancer and had only a short time to live, but he is still alive almost a year later.
"I was surprised when I heard he was being released, because I wasn't really asked for my opinion... it's a bit odd," said Zak Latif, the bomber's urologist in Scotland.
A Libyan doctor, Ibrahim Sherif, and a British cancer expert, Professor Karol Sikora -- who was paid by the Libyan government -- examined Megrahi and concluded he had three months to live, according to The Sunday Times.
Sikora admitted in an interview last month the bomber could in fact live for 10 years or longer.
Megrahi is the only man convicted of the 1988 terrorist attack over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, in which 270 people died, including 189 Americans.
The fact he is still alive almost a year after his release from prison has enraged critics in the United States who accuse oil giant BP of having pressed Scottish authorities for Megrahi's release to safeguard a lucrative business deal.
The Scottish government vehemently denies it came under pressure from BP.
Scottish ministers last year published a report by Andrew Fraser, director of health and care at the Scottish Prison Service.
It highlighted the names of four specialists in the case but their names were blacked out, said The Sunday Times.
As well as consultant urologist Latif, they were: urologist Geoffrey Orr, who first diagnosed Megrahi's cancer; Richard Jones, Megrahi's personal oncologist; and Grahame Howard, a consultant, according to the paper.
Latif said he had never had any dealings with Fraser: "I've never met or spoken to him. I deal with prostate cancer all the time and I'm very reluctant to make any kind of prognosis."
"I don't know how he made the decision of three months," he added.
Latif said Jones was not consulted before the release. Jones refused to comment, said The Sunday Times.
Orr said he had not been in touch with Scottish prison authorities since late October 2008, when he retired. "I would not even attempt to make a prognosis," he said.
Howard has previously said he is not surprised that Megrahi is still alive.
The Scottish government told the paper: "Due and proper process was followed at every stage."
One of the experts said he was "surprised" that his advice was not sought before Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi was freed in August last year, in comments to The Sunday Times newspaper.None of the medics, who were working for the national health service when they dealt with Megrahi, said they signed off on a prognosis stating that the bomber had only three months to live, said the report.
The Scottish government freed him on compassionate grounds because he was suffering from terminal cancer and had only a short time to live, but he is still alive almost a year later.
"I was surprised when I heard he was being released, because I wasn't really asked for my opinion... it's a bit odd," said Zak Latif, the bomber's urologist in Scotland.
A Libyan doctor, Ibrahim Sherif, and a British cancer expert, Professor Karol Sikora -- who was paid by the Libyan government -- examined Megrahi and concluded he had three months to live, according to The Sunday Times.
Sikora admitted in an interview last month the bomber could in fact live for 10 years or longer.
Megrahi is the only man convicted of the 1988 terrorist attack over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, in which 270 people died, including 189 Americans.
The fact he is still alive almost a year after his release from prison has enraged critics in the United States who accuse oil giant BP of having pressed Scottish authorities for Megrahi's release to safeguard a lucrative business deal.
The Scottish government vehemently denies it came under pressure from BP.
Scottish ministers last year published a report by Andrew Fraser, director of health and care at the Scottish Prison Service.
It highlighted the names of four specialists in the case but their names were blacked out, said The Sunday Times.
As well as consultant urologist Latif, they were: urologist Geoffrey Orr, who first diagnosed Megrahi's cancer; Richard Jones, Megrahi's personal oncologist; and Grahame Howard, a consultant, according to the paper.
Latif said he had never had any dealings with Fraser: "I've never met or spoken to him. I deal with prostate cancer all the time and I'm very reluctant to make any kind of prognosis."
"I don't know how he made the decision of three months," he added.
Latif said Jones was not consulted before the release. Jones refused to comment, said The Sunday Times.
Orr said he had not been in touch with Scottish prison authorities since late October 2008, when he retired. "I would not even attempt to make a prognosis," he said.
Howard has previously said he is not surprised that Megrahi is still alive.
The Scottish government told the paper: "Due and proper process was followed at every stage."
U.N. chief to meet Pakistan leaders over floods
(Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will meet Pakistani leaders on Sunday to discuss the country's worst floods in decades as popular anger mounts over the government's failure to tackle the crisis.
Nearly 12 percent of the population, some 20 million people, have been affected by one of the worst catastrophes in Pakistan's history. Six million still need food, shelter and water, according to the United Nations.
Ban will meet both Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari, who has been a lightning rod for popular anger after traveling to Europe in the middle of the catastrophe and not cutting short his trip.
The UN leader plans to visit flood hit areas on Sunday.
The floods, triggered by torrential monsoon downpours just over two weeks ago, engulfed Pakistan's Indus river basin, killing up to 1,600 people.
Ban's visit comes as millions of Pakistanis are increasingly frustrated by the government that has already been hit by political bickering and growing militant violence,Flood victims have complained that not enough government aid is arriving and looting has occurred in many flood hit areas amid increasing signs of lawlessness.
Pakistan's government has been accused of being too slow to respond to the crisis with victims relying mostly on the military and foreign aid agencies for help.
Floodwaters pose new threats to the populous Sindh province and the southwest province of Baluchistan, a region also hit by a decades long separatist insurgency.
In the northwest Swat valley, flour, cooking oil and rice were carried by mules along narrow mountain tracks to 150,000 people in Shahpur, with roads cut off and the weather too bad for helicopters.
Despite the government's perceived failure to tackle the crisis, a military coup is unlikely. The army's priority is fighting Taliban insurgents, and seizing power during a disaster would make no sense, analysts say.
It already sets security policies and influences foreign policy, and is described by some as a state within a state.
The International Monetary Fund has warned of major economic harm and the Finance Ministry said it would miss this year's 4.5 percent gross domestic product growth target.
Any economic downturn would come just as the government aims to fund projects across the country to win hearts and minds in the battle against the Taliban.
Wheat, cotton and sugar crops have all suffered damage in a country where agriculture is a mainstay of the economy.
Nearly 12 percent of the population, some 20 million people, have been affected by one of the worst catastrophes in Pakistan's history. Six million still need food, shelter and water, according to the United Nations.Ban will meet both Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari, who has been a lightning rod for popular anger after traveling to Europe in the middle of the catastrophe and not cutting short his trip.
The UN leader plans to visit flood hit areas on Sunday.
The floods, triggered by torrential monsoon downpours just over two weeks ago, engulfed Pakistan's Indus river basin, killing up to 1,600 people.
Ban's visit comes as millions of Pakistanis are increasingly frustrated by the government that has already been hit by political bickering and growing militant violence,Flood victims have complained that not enough government aid is arriving and looting has occurred in many flood hit areas amid increasing signs of lawlessness.
Pakistan's government has been accused of being too slow to respond to the crisis with victims relying mostly on the military and foreign aid agencies for help.
Floodwaters pose new threats to the populous Sindh province and the southwest province of Baluchistan, a region also hit by a decades long separatist insurgency.
In the northwest Swat valley, flour, cooking oil and rice were carried by mules along narrow mountain tracks to 150,000 people in Shahpur, with roads cut off and the weather too bad for helicopters.
Despite the government's perceived failure to tackle the crisis, a military coup is unlikely. The army's priority is fighting Taliban insurgents, and seizing power during a disaster would make no sense, analysts say.
It already sets security policies and influences foreign policy, and is described by some as a state within a state.
The International Monetary Fund has warned of major economic harm and the Finance Ministry said it would miss this year's 4.5 percent gross domestic product growth target.
Any economic downturn would come just as the government aims to fund projects across the country to win hearts and minds in the battle against the Taliban.
Wheat, cotton and sugar crops have all suffered damage in a country where agriculture is a mainstay of the economy.
Moscow airports operate normally despite smoke - aviation regulator
Moscow airports are operating normally despite smoke from fires raging outside the Russian capital, the country's aviation authority Rosaviatsia said on Sunday.
The smoke has shrouded Moscow again after a brief respite as a result of peat bog and forest fires raging in the neighboring Vladimir and Ryazan regions. The smoke has been blown into Moscow by southeast winds, Russia's emergencies ministry earlier said.
"The visibility in Moscow airports is now 1,400-3,000 meters. The smoke has not caused any flight delays," Rosaviatsia said.
Since mid-June, the Moscow Region has been in the grips of an abnormal heat wave sparking peat bog and forest fires. During two weeks the capital was blanketed in acrid dense smog.
The worst smoky days were August 6 and 7, when the carbon monoxide concentration in the air exceeded the maximum permissible level 6 to 7 times over.
The smoke has shrouded Moscow again after a brief respite as a result of peat bog and forest fires raging in the neighboring Vladimir and Ryazan regions. The smoke has been blown into Moscow by southeast winds, Russia's emergencies ministry earlier said.
"The visibility in Moscow airports is now 1,400-3,000 meters. The smoke has not caused any flight delays," Rosaviatsia said.
Since mid-June, the Moscow Region has been in the grips of an abnormal heat wave sparking peat bog and forest fires. During two weeks the capital was blanketed in acrid dense smog.
The worst smoky days were August 6 and 7, when the carbon monoxide concentration in the air exceeded the maximum permissible level 6 to 7 times over.
China holds day of mourning for mudslide victims
BEIJING — Flags were flying at half mast and public entertainment cancelled Sunday as China marked a national day of mourning for the more than 1,200 people killed by massive mudslides in the northwest.
Thousands of residents and rescuers in Zhouqu, the remote mountain region in Gansu province flattened by last weekend's landslides, stopped search efforts to take part in a ceremony to remember the victims, state television said.
Sirens wailed as mourners, wearing white paper flowers and some still clutching their shovels, observed a three-minute silence at 10:00 am.
Rescuers and medics later resumed their duties, clearing debris from the swollen Bailong River, searching for bodies buried under sludge and spraying disinfectant to prevent a disease outbreak, the Xinhua news agency said.
President Hu Jintao and other top leaders also paid tribute to the victims, as flags across the country and at overseas embassies were flown at half-mast and public entertainment such as movies, karaoke, online games and television was suspended, state media reports said.
State television broadcast images of about 10,000 people gathered at Tiananmen Square in Beijing early Sunday to watch a special flag-raising ceremony while other ceremonies were held across the country.
Shortly after midnight, the home pages of Chinese websites turned black and white while newspapers were stripped of colour in a show of mourning, Xinhua said.
In Hong Kong, flags on government buildings were lowered and a daily evening light show in the harbour was cancelled out of respect for those killed in the devastating mudslides which buried entire villages.
According to Chinese tradition, the seventh day after a death marks the height of the mourning period.
Authorities said 505 people in Zhouqu were still missing after the avalanche of mud and rocks last Saturday night, which levelled an area five kilometres (three miles) long and 300 metres wide.
The official death toll stood at 1,239 as of Saturday.
Authorities are struggling to keep up with demand for coffins in the devastated region, whose population is one-third Tibetan, the China Daily said.
Authorities warned heavy rains would continue into Sunday and said further flash floods, landslides and floating debris continued to pose dangers in Gansu province and neighbouring Sichuan, Xinhua said.
In Sichuan, at least 38 people were missing after landslides Saturday destroyed hospital buildings in Wenchuan county, the epicentre of an earthquake in May 2008 that left nearly 87,000 dead or missing, Xinhua said previously. About 10,000 people were evacuated as the government turned schools and municipal office buildings into temporary shelters, it said.
Elsewhere in Gansu, new floods and landslides have killed 34 people and left 63 missing in the city of Longnan close to Zhouqu, Xinhua said.
More than 122,000 residents in Longnan have been evacuated after more than 150 millimetres (six inches) of rain fell overnight on Wednesday.
The mudslides in Gansu are the latest in a string of weather-related disasters across China which is battling its worst floods in a decade.
More than 2,100 people have been left dead or missing and 12 million evacuated nationwide, not including the toll from the Zhouqu incident.
The civil affairs ministry said Friday it had not calculated a new nationwide flood death toll.
Thousands of residents and rescuers in Zhouqu, the remote mountain region in Gansu province flattened by last weekend's landslides, stopped search efforts to take part in a ceremony to remember the victims, state television said.
Sirens wailed as mourners, wearing white paper flowers and some still clutching their shovels, observed a three-minute silence at 10:00 am.
Rescuers and medics later resumed their duties, clearing debris from the swollen Bailong River, searching for bodies buried under sludge and spraying disinfectant to prevent a disease outbreak, the Xinhua news agency said.
President Hu Jintao and other top leaders also paid tribute to the victims, as flags across the country and at overseas embassies were flown at half-mast and public entertainment such as movies, karaoke, online games and television was suspended, state media reports said.
State television broadcast images of about 10,000 people gathered at Tiananmen Square in Beijing early Sunday to watch a special flag-raising ceremony while other ceremonies were held across the country.
Shortly after midnight, the home pages of Chinese websites turned black and white while newspapers were stripped of colour in a show of mourning, Xinhua said.
In Hong Kong, flags on government buildings were lowered and a daily evening light show in the harbour was cancelled out of respect for those killed in the devastating mudslides which buried entire villages.
According to Chinese tradition, the seventh day after a death marks the height of the mourning period.
Authorities said 505 people in Zhouqu were still missing after the avalanche of mud and rocks last Saturday night, which levelled an area five kilometres (three miles) long and 300 metres wide.
The official death toll stood at 1,239 as of Saturday.
Authorities are struggling to keep up with demand for coffins in the devastated region, whose population is one-third Tibetan, the China Daily said.
Authorities warned heavy rains would continue into Sunday and said further flash floods, landslides and floating debris continued to pose dangers in Gansu province and neighbouring Sichuan, Xinhua said.
In Sichuan, at least 38 people were missing after landslides Saturday destroyed hospital buildings in Wenchuan county, the epicentre of an earthquake in May 2008 that left nearly 87,000 dead or missing, Xinhua said previously. About 10,000 people were evacuated as the government turned schools and municipal office buildings into temporary shelters, it said.
Elsewhere in Gansu, new floods and landslides have killed 34 people and left 63 missing in the city of Longnan close to Zhouqu, Xinhua said.
More than 122,000 residents in Longnan have been evacuated after more than 150 millimetres (six inches) of rain fell overnight on Wednesday.
The mudslides in Gansu are the latest in a string of weather-related disasters across China which is battling its worst floods in a decade.
More than 2,100 people have been left dead or missing and 12 million evacuated nationwide, not including the toll from the Zhouqu incident.
The civil affairs ministry said Friday it had not calculated a new nationwide flood death toll.
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