theSun | FRIDAY JANUARY 9 2009 13

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Three accused in Obama

India: All options revenge racist attacks
NEW YORK: Three New Yorkers trio drove around late on election

open to dismantle
were charged on Wednesday with
a series of racist assaults meant
as “retaliation” for the presiden-
Democ- tial election victory of Barack
Obama, the Justice Department
racy is in announced.
our blood The three men – two of them
day, after Obama’s victory had been
announced, in search of blacks.
One allegedly shouted “Obama!”
as they attacked a teenager with
a metal pipe and police baton in
Staten Island, south of Manhattan.
The next victim was an African-

terror groups
NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD:
India said on Wednesday it
would keep all options open to
dismantle “terror outfits” after
the Mumbai attacks and Pakistan
finally confirmed the lone surviv-
ing gunman was Pakistani.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister
dismissed his national security
adviser shortly afterwards. India
had been saying for weeks that
Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, who
was captured after the November
attacks, was from Pakistan.
The prime minister’s office
said Mehmood Ali Durrani (pix)
had been sacked “for his irre-
sponsible behaviour for not tak-
ing the prime minister and other
stakeholders into confidence, and
a lack of coordination on matters
of national security.”
Indian officials have shown in-
creasing frustration at what they
see as Pakistan’s unwillingness
to fully investigate the attacks in
Nov by 10 gunmen that killed 179
people.
“I say we are keeping all
options open,” Indian Foreign
Minister Pranab Mukherjee told
Times Now television. Only
hours earlier Defence Minister
A.K. Antony had made similar
comments.
Information Minister
Sherry Rehman said initially on
Wednesday the gunman had
links with Pakistan and that the
investigation was continuing.
“We have confirmed it,” she
said later, referring to the fact he
was a Pakistani citizen.
The Hindu newspaper pub-
lished details from India’s dossier
of evidence on Wednesday,
including what it said
were transcripts of
conversations be-
tween handlers and
the gunmen during
the attack.
“Everything is be-
pg 15 aged 18 and one 21 – are charged American whom they allegedly
volvement by state agencies with hate crime conspiracy and pushed to the ground. They then
and rejected Singh’s accusation, face up to 10 years in prison if “accosted a Latino man, demanding
saying India risked destroying all found guilty. to know for whom he had voted.”
prospects of a serious and objec- Prosecutors accuse the trio of The final victim, prosecutors
tive investigation. attacks against “African-Americans allege, was a man they “mistakenly
The nuclear-armed rivals in retaliation for president-elect believed to be African-American.”
have fought three wars since Barack Obama’s election victory” One of the defendants “hit him
ing recorded by the media. Inflict 1947. Pakistani Prime Minister on Nov 4, the Justice Department with the car, causing the victim to
the maximum damage. Keep Yousaf Raza Gilani said Pakistan said. be thrown onto the hood of the
fighting. Don’t be taken alive,” had made constructive proposals Obama, whose father came car and into the front windshield,
one handler identified as Kafa for cooperation and initiated its from Kenya and whose mother was shattering it. Although the victim
told a gunman, the newspaper own investigation but India was white, is the first African-American survived, he was in a coma for a
said. unnecessarily whipping up ten- to win the presidency. period of time after the attack,” the
“Kill all hostages, except the sion. – Reuters The Justice Department says the Justice Department said. – AFP
two Muslims. Keep your phone
switched on so that we can hear
the gunfire,” a caller said.
The dossier has also been sent
to countries whose citizens were
victims of the attacks, such as
the United States, as India tried
to corner Pakistan diplomatically
into bringing the perpetrators to
justice.
David Mulford, the US Ambas-
sador to India, said on Wednesday
the evidence India had provided
was “credible”.
Indian Prime Minister Man-
mohan Singh stepped up a war of
words on Tuesday, saying for the
first time the assault “must have
had the support of some official
agencies in Pakistan”.
Singh may be playing to
a domestic audience before
general elections this year. The
Samajwadi Party, a key Indian
government coalition partner, re-
portedly threatened to
withdraw its sup-
port because of
what it said
was India’s
soft stance
on Paki-
stan.
Pakistan
has denied
any in-

Singapore to raise
retirement age to 65
SINGAPORE: Singapore plans to
compel firms to offer re-employ-
ment to staff when they reach
retirement age and introduce an
annuity to help it cope with a rapidly
ageing population, Prime Minister
Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday.
“We are legislating not to
further delay the retirement age,
but to require employers to offer
re-employment to workers at 62
for another three years until 65,
though not necessarily in the same
job or at the same pay,” Lee said at
a conference organised by AARP,
a US organisation that represents
senior citizens.
Singapore was considering
changes to the Central Provident
Fund, which all working Singapo-
reans must contribute to, such
that citizens will receive a steady
stream of income for the rest of
their lives after they reach 65, he
added.
Lee, however, ruled out offer free
healthcare, although he acknowl-
edged that many Singaporeans
were concerned about the spiral-
ling cost of medical treatment.
“A free healthcare system is not
the answer. It is an attractive ideal,
but experience in many countries
has shown that in practice ‘free’
healthcare leads to uncontrollable
and unsustainable demand for
healthcare services,” he said.
Singapore has one of the world’s
lowest birth rates, with the average
woman bearing 1.29 children in
her lifetime, and the government
expects one-fifth of the population
will be 65 years or older by 2030.
– Reuters