Jayalalithaa commences fast on Sri Lankan Tamils' issue

CHENNAI: AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa on Monday commenced a day-long fast in Chennai to press the centre to use its good offices with Sri Lanka to declare an immediate ceasefire in the island nation.

A similar fast is being undertaken by party members in the district headquarters across the state.

Jayalalithaa had charged the centre and the DMK, a constituent of the ruling UPA, with "failing to ensure ceasefire," in (the northern parts of) Sri Lanka."

The party is also collecting donations during the fast for providing relief to the Sri Lankan Tamils.

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Kiyani warns Zardari against unrest in Pakistan

NEW DELHI: The army
in Pakistan has begun to flex its muscle. Pakistan's army chief general Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani, who has so far kept a low
profile, has asked President Asif Ali Zardari to 'clean up the mess' soon, according to a Times Now report.

Well-placed military sources in Islamabad said Kiyani has been asked by the United States to bring some order in the region. After his recent visit to Washington, Kiyani held a meeting with top Pakistani army commanders on March 6 to share the concern of the US over the state of affairs in the country, especially after the dissolution of the Punjab government and the subsequent anti-government agitation that has plunged the country into another political crisis.

Zardari's bid to settle scores with the opposition led by Sharif has now gone down well with Washington.

The Supreme Court last month effectively barred former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif, who are opposition leaders, from contesting elections.

The Sharifs and the PML-N, Pakistan's second-largest party, have accused Zardari of being behind the court decision. Their supporters have taken to the streets and more strife is expected.

Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the Sharifs' party were bitter rivals in the 1990s, a turbulent decade in which Bhutto and Sharif both served as prime minister twice without completing a term. A military coup in late 1999 ousted Sharif and brought Musharraf to power.

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