Canadian ambassador to remain in Syria

OTTAWA - Canada will not shut its embassy in Syria, officials say, after the United States evacuated all diplomatic staff and closed its embassy in the country on Monday.
A spokesman for Foreign Minister John Baird said that Canada is not considering following the U.S. lead.
``The U.S. as a sovereign nation makes decisions based on its situation,'' wrote Rick Roth in an email. ``We make decisions based on ours.''
Roth said Canada's ambassador to Syria - retired vice-admiral Glenn Davidson - will remain in Damascus to voice Canada's displeasure at the ongoing government crackdown in the country.
``Canada has extremely strong views about the abhorrent actions of the current regime,'' he wrote. ``And our ambassador continues to deliver those messages at the highest levels.''
``We have been clear: Assad must go,'' Roth wrote.
In August, Davidson was named Canada's ambassador to Afghanistan, but has not yet left Syria to assume his next post due to the continuing turmoil in the Middle Eastern country.
Opposition foreign affairs critic Helene Laverdiere said Monday it's time for Canada to recall its ambassador to Syria.
``We think that it would be time to recall our ambassador to Syria, as to send a strong message to the Syrian regime,'' the NDP MP told reporters in Ottawa Monday. ``This will send a very clear message to the Assad regime.''
Anti-government protesters have been calling for President Bashar al-Assad to step down since unrest began in January 2011. The regime has fought back against the uprising, and is currently shelling civilian areas of the revolutionary city of Homs. Syrian opposition groups say 50 were killed in the most recent attack on Homs.
The United States cited security concerns as the reason for closing its mission to Damascus.
Laverdiere, a former career diplomat, said Canada should not go so far.
``It's not a question of cutting diplomatic ties completely,'' she said. ``Our position doesn't go as far as that of the United States.''
With many Canadians still in Syria, the embassy must remain open to provide consular services, she said.
``It's clear the Canadian government has a responsibility to Canadians who find themselves in Syria,'' Laverdiere said.
On Jan. 31, Baird issued orders to reduce the number of diplomatic staff in Syria.
``Due to the growing instability in Syria, Canada has reduced its diplomatic staff in Syria to core personnel only,'' he said. ``Canada's embassy remains open and continues to offer limited services in Damascus and in Aleppo through our honorary consulate.''
The visa and immigration section of Canada's mission in Damascus has been closed, Baird said, and those services have been transferred to neighbouring countries.
Baird said Canadians have begun leaving Syria, and he urged all other Canadians to do the same.
``Since Dec. 15, approximately 300 Canadians have informed us that they have left Syria,'' he said. ``We hope that more will follow their example.''
``We continue to urge Canadians still in Syria to leave now.''

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Sharapova sets sights on London Olympics

PARIS: Maria Sharapova is making the London Olympics one of her top priorities this year after missing the Beijing Games with an injury.

The third-ranked Russian has already won three Grand Slams but has never competed at the Olympics.

Sharapova said on Monday that "representing my country will be a huge honor," and is something she has wanted to do "since I was a young kid."

Sharapova missed the 2008 Beijing Olympics because of a shoulder injury.

Sharapova reached the final of the Australian Open last month and said she hopes that will be a springboard for winning another Grand Slam title this year.

She is competing in the Open GDF Suez for the first time this week.

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No Israel decision on attacking Iran: Obama - Pakistan Times

US President Barack Obama has said that Israel has not made a decision yet on attacking Iran's nuclear installations, noting that he still prefers to use diplomacy.
"I do not think Israel has taken a decision on what they need to do," Obama told the NBC news. Obama said he believes that the tough international sanctions are hurting the Iranian regime.
"We have mobilised the international community in an unprecedented way. They are feeling the pinch. They are feeling the pressure," he said.
Until Iran commit itself to peaceful use of nuclear energy and leaves its nuclear weapon programme, both the US are Israel are going to be very concerned about it. "We have closure military and intelligence consultations than we ever had. My first priority continues to be the security of the US, but also the security of Israel. We are going to make sure that we work in lockstep, as we proceed to try to solve this - hopefully, diplomatically," Obama said.

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69 dead as US closes Damascus embassy

Syria

The Syrian army on Monday launched a new assault on Homs, killing 42 people and wounding dozens, according to activists .
This new offensive, again denied by the regime, comes on the eve of a visit to Damascus by Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, whose country has vetoed Saturday with China a UN resolution condemning repression in Syria.
In total, the violence has killed at least 69 people Monday, including 66 civilians according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights.
On its part, the Syrian National Council, the main opposition coalition, urged the international community to "act quickly" to "prevent another massacre" in Homs, where shelling killed more than 330 dead on Saturday.
After the failure of diplomatic efforts at the UN, the U.S. and the EU have announced plans to strengthen sanctions against the regime, while London said it would take "other means of putting pressure" on Damascus.
London on Monday recalled its ambassador to Damascus, while Washington has closed its embassy, entrusting Poland task to represent the USA in Syria.

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Pakistan Supreme Court suspends 28 lawmakers

Islamabad: Pakistan's Supreme Court on Monday suspended membership of 28 parliamentarians elected in by-elections held on the basis of what were said to be flawed voters' lists.
Their membership will remain suspended until an amendment to the constitution is passed by the parliament to endorse their election, the court ruled.
Among the suspended are nine members of the National Assembly, the lower house of the parliament, and three members of the Senate, the upper house. The senators include Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and Petroleum Minister Asim Hussain.
The affected members of provincial assemblies include eight from Punjab, four from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, three from Sindh and one from Balochistan province.

Of the Punjab Assembly members hit by the decision, seven belong to the Pakistan Muslim League-N and one to the Pakistan People's Party.
A four-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry passed the suspension order after hearing a petition regarding bogus entries in the electoral rolls.
The petition was filed by popular politician and former cricket hero Imran Khan, chairman of Pakistan's Tehreek-e-Insaaf party (PTI).
The bench observed that the government had failed to get its proposed 20th Amendment to endorse the election of the 28 in by-polls passed by the parliament in the given time frame.
The court rejected PTI leader's plea to stop by-elections until new electoral rolls are provided by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
It said the National Database and Registration Authority has assured that by the stipulated deadline of February 25 it will be able to provide fresh lists of voters to the ECP to conduct polls in the required constituencies.

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England needs to learn from humiliation: Strauss

"We are disappointed that we have not coped better to the challenges that came our way," Strauss said. (Reuters Photo)

DUBAI: England captain Andrew Strauss has called on his underperforming batsmen to learn from its struggles on the spin-friendly pitches in the humiliating series loss to Pakistan with Test tours to Sri Lanka and India looming.

Pakistan clinched its first whitewash against England with a clinical 71-run win in the third and final Test on Monday, having won the first match by 10 wickets and the second by 72 runs in a series in which a fifth day's play was never required.

"We are disappointed that we have not coped better to the challenges that came our way," Strauss said. "This is a good eye-opener for us and good wake-up call that things are not easy in this part of the world."

The subcontinental-like pitches in the United Arab Emirates took spin from the first day, and England will need to improve before its trip to Sri Lanka next month and its tour of India later this year.

England hasn't won for a decade in India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka, mainly because of its batsmen's inability to conquer slow, turning tracks on which the ball doesn't come on to the bat.

"English sides generally have not played well in these sort of conditions in the past," Strauss said. "We need to break that tradition and we are not going to do that by doing the same things."

Strauss hit 150 runs in six innings, featuring in one of only three half-centuries scored by England's top six batsmen in the series.

England's batsmen had no answer to the brilliance of offspinner Saeed Ajmal and left-arm tweaker Abdur Rehman, who combined for 43 wickets in the series.

Ajmal had claimed he would unveil a mystery delivery in the series, but in the end it wasn't required with his "doosra" - a delivery disguised as an offbreak that actually turns away from the right-handed batsman - doing the damage.

"I haven't been involved in any series where so many of our batsmen have had a hard time as much as this one," Strauss said. "We have all got some questions to answer individually, some soul searching and thoughts to put into how we can do things better.

"Pakistan bowlers are quite unique," he added. "They are different type of spinners. They made life difficult for us and when we did get in front of them in the tests, they were able to wrest the initiative back in their favor."

England had won six straight test series _ including a 4-0 whitewash of India _ and then took a five-month break before arriving in the UAE to take on a Pakistan team which had drawn with South Africa in 2010 and defeated Sri Lanka in October.

The team had an ideal chance to level the series in the second Test when requiring only 145 runs to win, but Rehman and Ajmal combined to skittle out England's batsmen for just 72.

While hinting there may be changes for the Sri Lanka tour, Strauss is happy with the players he has been leading.

"Look, nobody has the right to play for England forever," Strauss said. "I think it's important for us to take some time to let the dust settle, start thinking about what went wrong individually.

"I still believe that, by and large, the best players in England are here in Dubai."

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