In the petition, the former president urged the Supreme Court to declare the special court ruling of his death sentence on charges of high treason null and void.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Supreme Court has returned the petition of self-exiled former dictator Pervez Musharraf against his conviction and sentencing by a special tribunal with objection that he is not allowed to appeal without surrendering to the law, according to a media report.

On Thursday, 74-year-old retired general, now based in Dubai, approached the court to challenge the ruling of the special tribunal that had handed him death sentence on charges of high treason. Barrister Salman Safdar, the counsel for Musharraf, submitted the 90-page petition in the top court.

In the petition, the former president urged the Supreme Court to declare the special court ruling null and void. The registrar office of the top court on Friday returned the appeal with the observation that it was settled principle of law that the convict should first surrender before filing appeal, The Express Tribune reported.

The report said that the court gave one month time to remove the objection which meant that Musharraf should surrender within one month otherwise he would lose the right to file appeal. The three-member court in its judgment on December 17 found him guilty and handed down the death penalty after six years of hearing the high-profile treason case against him.

He was punished despite not appearing to record his statement. Musharraf who has been living in Dubai since March 2016 stated in his petition that the former president’s absence from the special court was not intentional as he was unable to appear due to health issue.

He said that the special court had accepted his pleas of ailment but convicted the former president in absentia.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had filed the treason case against the former army chief in 2013 over the imposition of an extra-constitutional emergency in November 2007, which led to the confinement of a number of superior court judges in their houses and sacking of over 100 judges.

It is the first time in Pakistan’s history that a former army chief was tried and sentenced under Article 6 of the Constitution. Separately, the Lahore High Court declared that the formation of the special court was “unconstitutional” and that the treason case against the former president was not prepared in accordance with the law.

It let some experts to believe that its verdict had become null and void. Others, however, assert that the judgment would stay as it was according to the law, though the court’s formation was declared as against the law.

As per reports, two minor girls, Shanti Meghwad and Sarmi Meghwad belonging to the minority Hindu community were abducted from a village in Sindh.

NEW DELHI: India on Friday summoned a senior official of the Pakistan High Commission here and lodged a strong protest over recent cases of abduction of minor girls belonging to minority Hindu community in that country, official sources said.

As per reports, two minor girls, Shanti Meghwad and Sarmi Meghwad belonging to the minority Hindu community were abducted from a village in Sindh province on January 14.

“Pakistan has been conveyed the grave concerns as expressed amongst various quarters of the Indian civil society at such a shocking and deplorable incident involving minor girls from the minority Hindu community there.

“The incidents have been strongly condemned, and India has asked for immediate and safe return of these girls to their families,” said a source.

These girls belonged to Umar Village in Sindh, according to reports.

In another incident, a minor girl, Mehak, also belonging to the minority Hindu community, was abducted from the Jacobabad district of Sindh province in Pakistan on January 15, according to reports.

The cull came as Australia experienced its hottest and driest year on record in 2019, with the severe drought causing some towns to run out of water and fuelling deadly bushfires.

SYDNEY: Helicopter-borne marksmen killed more than 5,000 camels in a five-day cull of feral herds that were threatening indigenous communities in drought-stricken areas of southern Australia, officials said Tuesday.

Aboriginal leaders in South Australia state said extremely large herds of the non-native camels had been driven towards rural communities by drought and extreme heat, threatening scarce food and drinking water, damaging infrastructure, and creating a dangerous hazard for drivers.

The cull in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands — home to about 2,300 indigenous people in the arid northwest of South Australia — ended on Sunday, said APY general manager Richard King.

“We appreciate the concerns of animal rights activists, but there is significant misinformation about the realities of life for non-native feral animals, in what is among the most arid and remote places on Earth,” King said in a statement on Tuesday.

“As custodians of the land, we need to deal with an introduced pest in a way that protects valuable water supplies for communities and puts the lives of everyone, including our young children, the elderly, and native flora and fauna first.

” King said weakened camels frequently became stuck and died in water holes, contaminating water sources needed by locals and native animals and birds.

“The prolonged dry period, while not difficult for native wildlife, leads to extreme distress for feral camels,” he said.

APY officials said the operation had removed more than 5,000 camels.

The cull came as Australia experienced its hottest and driest year on record in 2019, with the severe drought causing some towns to run out of water and fuelling deadly bushfires that have devastated the country’s southeast.

Camels were first introduced to Australia in the 1840s to aid in the exploration of the continent’s vast interior, with up to 20,000 imported from India in the six decades that followed.

Australia is now thought to have the largest wild camel population in the world, with official estimates suggesting more than one million are roaming the country’s inland deserts.

The animals are considered a pest, as they foul water sources and trample native flora while foraging for food over vast distances each day.

Traditional owners in the APY Lands have for years mustered and sold off feral camels.

But more recently they have “been unable to manage the scale and number of camels that congregate in dry conditions”, according to the environment department.

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Trump was stilling willing to hold talks with Iran’s leaders.

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump warned Iran Sunday against killing protesters who have risen up over the regime’s downing of a civilian airliner as his defense secretary left the door open to talks with Tehran without preconditions.

Trump’s salvo came as Iran’s Islamic regime faced a challenge from angry street protests, having come to the brink of war with the US with a series of tit-for-tat confrontations.

To the leaders of Iran – DO NOT KILL YOUR PROTESTERS. Thousands have already been killed or imprisoned by you, and the World is watching. More importantly, the USA is watching. Turn your internet back on and let reporters roam free! Stop the killing of your great Iranian people!

In an interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation” just before the tweet, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Trump was stilling willing to hold talks with Iran’s leaders.

“We’re willing to sit down and discuss without precondition a new way forward, a series of steps by which Iran becomes a more normal country,” Esper said.

Muscat: Sultan Qaboos, the longest-reigning leader of the modern Arab world, has died at the age of 79, the royal court said Saturday.

“With great sorrow and deep sadness… the royal court mourns His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who passed away on Friday,” the court said in a statement. Qaboos, who has ruled since 1970 when he deposed his father in a palace coup, had been ill for some time and had been believed to be suffering from colon cancer.

He left no apparent heir. He was unmarried and had no children or brothers. It is not clear who will succeed Qaboos, whose country has a distinct method of choosing the next ruler.

According to the Omani constitution, the royal family shall, within three days of the throne falling vacant, determine the successor. If the family does not agree on a name, the person chosen by Qaboos in a letter addressed to the royal family will be the successor.

The sultan should be a member of the royal family, as well as “Muslim, mature, rational and the legitimate son of Omani Muslim parents”.

Local experts say that more than 80 men meet the criteria, but one name stands: Asad bin Tariq. Tariq, 65, had been appointed deputy prime minister for international relations and cooperation affairs in 2017.

The move was seen as a clear message of support to the sultan’s cousin and “special representative” since 2002. Qaboos transformed the Arabian Peninsula nation from a backwater into a modern state while pursuing a moderate but active foreign policy.

Having played a role in Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers while preserving its membership in the Saudi-led Gulf Cooperation Council, Oman has emerged as the Gulf’s discreet mediator.

It remains to be seen whether the next ruler will take the same moderate approach in a region often in turmoil.

Chile’s meteorological service said on Monday that smoke from the fires was visible in Chile and Argentina.

SAO PAULO: Smoke from bushfires raging across Australia reached Brazil, an arm of the National Institute for Space Research said on Twitter.

Referring to satellite images, the agency’s Department of Remote Sensing said the smoke had arrived in Brazil’s southernmost state, Rio Grande do Sul, on Tuesday.

Private meteorological company MetSul also tweeted about the arrival of a smoke cloud to Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, but emphasised that “the presence of smoke from Australia in the air is almost imperceptible, despite the satellite showing smoke in the atmosphere over the great Porto Alegre”.

Chile’s meteorological service said on Monday that smoke from the fires was visible in Chile and Argentina.

That means the hazy cloud of smoke, sitting at about 6,000 metres (20,000 feet) in the air, travelled more than 12,000 kilometres (7,500 miles) to reach South America.

But the drifting smoke won’t negatively affect the health of the continent’s inhabitants, the Chilean service said.

Fires ravaging Australia since September have left 24 people dead and destroyed some eight million hectares (80,000 square kilometers) of land — an area the size of Ireland or the US state of South Carolina.

After a catastrophic weekend, Australian firefighters — supported by US and Canadian forces — welcomed rain and a drop in temperatures to boost their efforts early in the week before another heatwave is expected in the coming days.

Reserve troops have been deployed to help throughout the country, and the government has earmarked an initial 2 billion Australian dollars (USD 1.4 billion) for a national recovery fund for devastated communities.

The National Bushfire Recovery Agency, headed by former federal police chief Andrew Colvin, will help bushfire affected communities recover.

MELOURNE: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday announced an additional 2 billion dollars over two years to a new agency to coordinate a national response to rebuild communities and livelihoods following the deadly bushfire crisis.

The National Bushfire Recovery Agency, headed by former federal police chief Andrew Colvin, will help bushfire affected communities recover. The agency would be funded with an initial 2 billion Australian dollars (USD 1.38 billion) to ensure the families, farmers and business owners hit by the unprecedented bushfires would get the support they needed as they recover, the Prime Minister said.

“It’s a long road ahead and we will be with these communities every step of the way as they rebuild,” Morrison, who is facing widespread criticism in Australia for his handling of the crisis, said. The bushfire crisis has taken a very heavy toll with more than 1,500 homes already lost throughout the course of this fire season, which has been running since September, according to the government.

Over 20 people have lost their lives so far. “While the immediate focus for our emergency services and the Australian Defence Force is keeping people safe and defending against the fires hitting so many areas, we also need to be ready to hit the ground in communities where the fire-front has passed to help them rebuild. The agency will ensure the work of state and territory governments is being supported and act as a ‘one stop shop’ central team to coordinate the response. We will do whatever it takes,” he said.

Meanwhile fire continued to burn across several regions of the country including New South Wales and Victoria which on Monday received some relief following rain. Commissioner of New South Wales Rural Fire Service Shane Fitzsimmons confirmed that nearly 150 fires were still burning across the state.

“We are certainly seeing an easing of conditions right across the state. And as a matter of fact, there’s even a bit of drizzle happening down here on the south coast. And it’s certainly a welcome reprieve,” he said, adding that “‘unfortunately it is not putting out the fires. It’s not helping us with the furthering of the work of back burning and consolidation work”.

“All our fires are now off the emergency warning alert level. We’ve got nine at the watch and act alert level, which is indicative of ongoing fire behaviour and potential and fire still burning in and around lots of communities. There’s lots of damage and destruction,” he said.

In Victoria, all emergency warnings statewide were downgraded following rain however a total of 15 ‘watch and act’ warnings remained in place for the state. No Victorians were now unaccounted for because of bushfires, according to latest confirmation by state Premier Daniel Andrews who also announced a new bushfire relief agency for the state.

In South Australia, the bushfire on Kangaroo Island was still uncontrolled, burning at ‘watch and act’ level. Earlier, the fire had killed two people, burnt about a third of the Island and is believed to have killed approximately half of the Island’s Koala population.

The Mayor of Kangaroo Island said he knows at least 50 homes that have been destroyed. Water and power infrastructure has been significantly damaged in the island’s west. Repair estimates are not yet known.

Almost six million hectares have burned in Australia in the ongoing bushfire crisis, with over 20 deaths reported so far. On Saturday, Prime Minister Morrison called up 3,000 military reserve troops to combat the bushfires, the first time that reservists were called up in such a large number “in the living memory”.

Morrison was criticised for taking a family vacation in Hawaii at the start of the wildfire crisis, with many people complaining about the lack of readiness in utilisation of resources.

Last week, he was heckled when he visited a township in New South Wales where houses have been destroyed and one of them belonged to one of the three volunteer firefighters who have died in the crisis.

Over 3,000 firefighters are on the frontline, with 31 specialist strike teams in place across NSW. Australia’s military has been assisting with aerial reconnaissance, mapping, search and rescue, logistics and aerial support for months.

Although the United States and Iran have long been adversaries and engaged in a shadow war in the Middle East and elsewhere, the US has never declared formal war on Iran.

NEW YORK: After Friday’s targeted killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, newsrooms struggled with the question: Had the United States just carried out an assassination? And should news stories about the killing use that term?

The AP Stylebook, considered a news industry bible, defines assassination as “the murder of a politically important or prominent individual by surprise attack.”

Although the United States and Iran have long been adversaries and engaged in a shadow war in the Middle East and elsewhere, the US has never declared formal war on Iran.

So the targeted killing of a high Iranian state and military official by a surprise attack was “clearly an assassination,” said Mary Ellen O’Connell, an expert in international law and the laws of war at the University of Notre Dame School of Law.

Just as clearly, the Trump administration doesn’t agree.

Though a statement issued by the Pentagon said the attack was specifically intended to kill Soleimani and that it was ordered “at the direction of the President,” it also characterized the killing as defensive, to protect U.S. military forces abroad, and stated that Soleimani was actively developing plans “to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.” Subsequent statements by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and President Donald Trump also characterized the killing as punishment of Soleimani for past blood on his hands.

O’Connell’s counterargument: Whether the killing is framed as part of an armed conflict between two states or as a police action intended to deter terrorism, it cannot be characterized as an act of self-defence because there was never a full-fledged and direct attack on the United States by Iran. The United States’s legal reason for being in Iraq is to deter the Islamic State group, not to fight against Iran, she noted, and the attacks against the U.S. by Iranian-backed militias in recent months have been intermittent and relatively limited.

“Assassination is prohibited both in peacetime law as well as on the battlefield,” she said.

“We have really moved to a nearly lawless state,” she said. If the justification for a military response is self-defence, the response should be “necessary and proportionate.” But that would not justify individual targeted killings, she said.

For Iran, Soleimani’s killing was a “horrific assassination,” wrote Majid Takht Ravanchi, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations.

It is “an obvious example of state terrorism, and, as a criminal act, constitutes a gross violation of the fundamental principles of international law,” Ravanchi wrote in a letter to the U.N. secretary-general.

The premeditated killing of a specific individual commander for what they have done on the battlefield or what they may do has been prohibited by the law of armed conflict dating from the Hague Conventions of 1907, and by a protocol of the Geneva Convention in 1949 saying “it is prohibited to kill, injure or capture an adversary by perfidy,” she added.

International war law aside, there also has been a US executive order in place since 1976 forbidding the U.S. from carrying out political assassinations. The order came into being after revelations that the CIA had organized or sanctioned assassination attempts against foreign leaders including Fidel Castro.

The current version of the executive order states: “No person employed by or acting on behalf of the United States Government shall engage in, or conspire to engage in, assassination.”

It does not, however, define what constitutes an assassination, and has been generally interpreted to mean an unlawful killing of a political leader in peacetime. For instance, during the “war on terror” since 9/11, the United States is believed to have conducted a number of secret drone strikes targeting individuals, such as the attack against al- Qaida propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed in 2011 in Yemen.

Soleimani, however, was a military leader. If he was leading forces against the United States, under the international laws of war as enunciated in the 1949 Geneva Conventions, he and his forces could be considered legitimate battle targets during any actual war or armed conflict, declared or undeclared.

The AP has mostly refrained from describing Soleimani’s death as an assassination — both because it would require that the news service decide that the act was a murder, and because the term is politically freighted.

Duke University Professor of Law Madeleine Morris, an expert on international criminal law, said the law is not terribly clear in this area.

She said that under the United Nations Charter, there is a clear right of self-defence in response to armed attacks. She noted that some might argue that the attacks the U.S. has experienced in this case do not meet at a threshold of gravity to justify this sort of targeted killing, while others would argue to the contrary that there is no explicit threshold — that if attacked a country has an absolute right to respond militarily.

”There is no obligation to kill a lot of people rather than a single person,” she said.

The question then would be whether the act of war was legal, allowed as self-defence, or would it be considered an illegal act of aggression? That would depend on the intelligence evidence offered by the United States and the imminence of any planned attack.

“The problem is that governments have good reason to make very little public in this situation, which makes it very difficult to evaluate the situation politically or legally.”

The city has been battered by more than six months of unrest with marches attended by millions, as well as confrontations in which police have fired tear gas and rubber bullets.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong police fired tear gas a few minutes into 2020 as pro-democracy protesters took their movement into the new year with midnight countdown rallies and a massive march planned for January 1.

The city has been battered by more than six months of unrest with marches attended by millions, as well as confrontations in which police have fired tear gas and rubber bullets — and protesters have responded with petrol bombs.

Before midnight on Tuesday, thousands of protesters gathered across the financial hub, including along the waterfront of Victoria Harbour and at nightlife hotspot Lan Kwai Fong.

Protesters at the harbourfront counted down chanting “Ten! Nine! Liberate Hong Kong, revolution now!” as they lit up their phones in a sea of lights.

Smaller crowds of protesters in the Mong Kok district set fire to barricades — and riot police unleashed 2020’s first volleys of tear gas in response.

Shortly before the final day of 2019 drew to a close, police used water cannon to disperse protesters in the same area while, in nearby Prince Edward neighbourhood, officers arrested several protesters staging a candlelight vigil.

Earlier in the evening, thousands of people linked arms in human chains that stretched for miles along busy shopping streets and through local neighbourhoods.

They chanted slogans, sang “Glory to Hong Kong” — a protest anthem — and held up posters calling for people to fight for democracy in 2020.

“Thanks to 2019, which tore off the ugly masks of the police and the government and let the people see the truth,” said protester Kris, a medic who joined the protest.

“The movement is kind of like at its bottleneck now. Hopefully, a huge turnout at tomorrow’s march could bring back people’s passion,” he added.

The city’s traditional New Year Eve’s bumper fireworks display was cancelled due to safety concerns, but a light show and smaller-scale fireworks took place instead.

In late November, the city’s pro-democracy camp scored a landslide victory in a municipal-level vote seen as a referendum on the Beijing-backed government’s handling of political unrest.

The protest movement has since become quieter but sporadic clashes have persisted.

In a New Year’s video message broadcast on state media, Chinese president Xi Jinping said Hong Kong’s recent upheaval was concerning and that the “people of our motherland” expected stability in the restive city.

But protesters have vowed to continue their effort to push for greater democratic freedoms and police accountability.

On Tuesday night, demonstrators also swarmed major shopping malls, which have become regular protest venues in an effort to cause economic disruption.

“2019 is a remarkable and special year for every single Hongkonger,” 25-year-old teacher Sam told AFP as he celebrated New Year’s Eve with his family at the harbourfront.

“People’s demands are loud and clear, but the government is not listening. In 2020, I really hope it will be a better year for all Hong Kong people.”

The Civil Human Rights Front, the chief organiser of marches, hopes for a huge turnout at Wednesday’s rally to urge the government to respond to the demands of the pro-democracy movement — which include an independent inquiry into the police, amnesty for arrestees and fully free elections.

Police have arrested nearly 6,500 people since June — nearly a third of them aged under 20.

“The youngsters have sacrificed a lot for justice. 2019 is a wake-up call,” a 63-year-old retiree, who gave his surname as Shiu, told AFP.

“People will be more determined in the new year. People know that the future of Hong Kong depends on whether we can achieve the five demands.”

The demonstrations were sparked by a now-abandoned bill to allow extraditions to the authoritarian mainland, but have since morphed into a popular revolt against Beijing’s control — the biggest crisis since the former British colony’s return to Chinese rule in 1997.

The December 18 report also said that for the first time in independent India’s history, a religious criterion has been added to the country’s naturalization process.

WASHINGTON: The amended Citizenship law along with a National Register of Citizens (NRC) being planned by the Narendra Modi government “may affect the status” of the Muslim minority in India, a report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) has said.

The December 18 report also said that for the first time in independent India’s history, a religious criterion has been added to the country’s naturalization process.

The CRS is an independent research wing of the US Congress which prepares reports periodically on issues of domestic and global importance for the lawmakers to take an informed decision.

These are not considered as official reports of the US Congress.

“In tandem with a National Register of Citizens (NRC) planned by the federal government, the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) may affect the status of India’s large Muslim minority of roughly 200 million,” said the CRS in its first-ever report on the amended Citizenship law.

According to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, non-Muslim refugees who came to India till December 31, 2014, to escape religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will be given Indian citizenship.

Since both houses of Parliament approved amendments to the citizenship law earlier this month, protests – sometimes violent – have taken place across the country during which many protesters have died, especially in Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka.

“India’s Citizenship Act of 1955 prohibited illegal immigrants from becoming citizens.

Among numerous amendments to the act since 1955, none contained a religious aspect,” the CRS said in its two-page report.

The changes sparked significant controversy, including large-scale and sometimes violent protests.

Opponents of the CAA warn that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are pursuing a Hindu majoritarian, anti-Muslim agenda that threatens India’s status as an officially secular republic and violates international human rights norms, it said.

The CRS claims that the amendment’s key provisions “allowing immigrants of six religions from three countries a path to citizenship while excluding Muslims” may violate certain Articles of the Indian Constitution, in particular, Articles 14 and 15.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act was immediately challenged in the Supreme Court by scores of petitioners, but the court has refused to issue a stay on implementation and is deferring hearing petitions until January 22, it notes, adding that the government argues that the three specified countries have a state religion — Islam — resulting in persecution of religious minorities.

“Proponents say that Muslims do not face persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh, or Afghanistan and that the CAA is constitutional because it addresses migrants rather than Indian citizens,” it said.

“Yet it is not clear why migrants from other neighbouring countries with state (or favoured) religions, such as Sri Lanka (where Buddhism is the official religion and Tamil Hindus face persecution) and Burma (where Buddhism enjoys primacy and Rohingya Muslims are persecuted), are excluded from a path to citizenship.

In addition, oppressed Muslim minority communities such as Pakistan’s Ahmadis and Shias enjoy no protection under the CAA,” the CRS said.

“The New Delhi government maintains that the NRC update is a fair and non-discriminatory process driven by the Supreme Court that does not impose a religious test or render any persons ‘stateless’,” it said adding that the United Nations, the US Commission for International Religious Freedom, and independent human rights groups have expressed concerns about NRC.