Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to visit Pak on peace mission

In an attempt to strengthen India-Pakistan ties, spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar will Monday embark on a three-day peace mission to Pakistan where he will meet the country's top leaders.

Ravi Shankar will enter Lahore through the Wagah border on March 12 and proceed to Islamabad and Karachi.

"If we spend one-tenth of what we have spent on conflict, we could create a much more prosperous South Asia, where no one knows the gun, no one suffers from disease and no one cries for life," the spiritual leader said in a statement here today.

Emphasising the need for people-to-people contact between the two countries and urging the youth to commit themselves to the creation of a non-violent and harmonious South Asia, he said, "We have spent a lot on conflicts, on escalating conflicts and on destruction of life and environment. Now we have to work towards making peace."

Besides visiting places of religious significance, including the Badshahi mosque, Ravi Shankar will be inaugurating an Art of Living centre in the presence of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's advisor Dr Paul Bhatti.

The spiritual leader will also hold talks with business leaders, academicians, spiritual leaders, student organisations and opinion leaders.

During his last visit to Pakistan in July 2004, Sri Sri had inaugurated Art of Living's stress elimination programmes as well as humanitarian service initiatives.

The foundation has also been involved in relief efforts in the Swat valley, and collection and distribution of relief material and raising funds for rebuilding of schools (in partnership with Rotary International) for the 2008 Quetta earthquake relief.

Pak dismisses Kabul’s Mullah Omar demand as ‘unrealistic’

Pakistan's foreign minister said Friday it would be “preposterous’’ for Afghanistan to expect Islamabad to deliver the Taliban’s leader to the negotiating table, as peace talks between the two countries ended with little progress.

Pakistan is seen as key to the peace process because Taliban chief Mullah Omar is believed to be based in the country.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai raised the issue in a face-to-face meeting with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, at delegation-level talks Thursday in Islamabad, on the sidelines of a trilateral summit meeting of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, reported.

Karzai’s language and tone flared to such an extent that Gilani halted a meeting of the full delegations of the two countries, the paper said quoting officials from both sides. Later, a smaller meeting took place with just top officials of the two countries.

At one point, apparently directing his remarks to Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Karzai asked: “Would you be willing to stop girls studying in schools and university in Pakistan?” The Taliban, when it ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s, stopped the education of girls.

At the trilateral summit Friday, Khar cautioned Kabul against expecting too much in terms of Pakistan providing access to the Taliban’s leaders.

“If you have unrealistic, almost ridiculous expectations, then you don’t have common ground,’’ said Khar. Khar said any expectation that Pakistan can deliver the Taliban’s chief for talks is “not only unrealistic, but preposterous.’’

Pakistan crisis deepening: Contempt notice to PM Yousuf Raza Gilani

Pakistan's top court on Monday found Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in contempt for not complying with orders related to re-opening corruption cases and summoned him to appear in person this week.

The move escalates the pressure on Pakistan's weakened civilian government, which faces separate court procedures that could unseat its leadership and force early elections at a time of soaring tensions with the powerful army.

"The Supreme Court has issued a contempt of court notice to the prime minister for not complying with its orders," Judge Nasir-ul-Mulk told the court which met to debate how to proceed on graft charges against the president.

"He has been directed to appear personally on January 19," the judge added.

The Supreme Court wants the government to write to Swiss authorities demanding that they re-open old corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, which the government has so far refused to do so.

Zardari and the government led by his Pakistan People's Party (PPP) say he has immunity from prosecution as long as he remains in office.

The president is also under pressure from an investigation into who was behind efforts to solicit American help to prevent a coup apparently feared in the aftermath of Osama bin Laden's death and to clip the power of the army.

Zardari's close aide, Husain Haqqani, was forced to resign as ambassador to Washington over a secret memo written last May and the Supreme Court ordered an inquiry on December 30 following a demand from the country's chief spymaster.