Suu Kyi continues election-campaign trip

 

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi hit the campaign trail near her hometown of Yangon on Saturday, travelling to the constituency where she is standing for parliament for the first time.

 

The democracy icon has already made two campaign trips outside the city ahead of April s by-elections, but this is her first day taking to the streets of the rural township of Kawhmu, where she is contesting the vote.

 

Hundreds of cheering supporters lined the roads as her convoy left Yangon, waving flags of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party and photos of Suu Kyi and her father, Myanmar s independence hero Aung San.

 

The NLD cannot threaten the army-backed party s ruling majority even if it wins all of the 48 available seats, but the vote has important symbolic value as the first time Suu Kyi has been able to directly participate in a Myanmar election.

 

“I hope they will be free and fair. There have been a few hitches but I hope that these will be sorted out,” she told AFP on Friday.

 

A widely-expected win for Suu Kyi would lend strong legitimacy to the country s parliament, which first convened early last year and is dominated by former generals who kept her in detention for much of the past two decades.

 

The NLD won a landslide victory in an election in 1990, but the then-ruling junta never allowed the party to take power. Suu Kyi was a figurehead for the party s campaign despite being under house arrest at the time.

 

She was released from her latest stint in detention a few days after a much-criticised election in 2010, and the upcoming polls are being held to fill places vacated by those who have since become government ministers and deputy ministers.

 

Ahead of the campaign day, Suu Kyi insisted her party — which boycotted the 2010 election — was taking nothing for granted.

 

“We will work very hard to win all 48 seats. It s not a matter of expectations, it s a matter of hard work,” the Nobel Peace Prize winner said.

 

Controversy surrounding the 2010 vote means the by-elections will be heavily scrutinised.

 

But the new regime has impressed even sceptics with its reform process, which has included welcoming the NLD back into the political mainstream and signing ceasefire deals with ethnic minority rebels.

 

The release of hundreds of political prisoners has been particularly welcomed by Western powers — which imposed strict sanctions on Myanmar — leading the United States to begin restoring full diplomatic relations.

 

On Monday, Washington also announced a waiver to allow it to support assessments in the country by international financial institutions including the World Bank.

 

Despite Myanmar s progress, the brief detention of a leading dissident monk on Friday sparked concern among observers, coming less than a month after his release from a jail term imposed for his role in a 2007 anti-junta uprising.
 

Loadshedding ends as power companies paid, court told

 

Loadshedding have been come to an end after payment of due charges to the power companies. The counsel for the Federal Government has submitted his reply in the court.

When Chief Justice Shaikh Azmat Saeed started hearing of the case, the petitioner said that whenever the issue is raised in the court, the phase of loadshedding is ended. Such tactics are adopted just to suffer the people, he argued.

On the other hand, the counsel for the federal government said that loadshedding of power has been ended throughout the country after properly payment of due charges to the power companies.

Chief Justice commented that thanks God, that people have been endowed with some relief. The next hearing of the case would be conducted on March 6.

Af-Pak Jihad attracting foreign fighters: Officials

 

The Afghan-Pakistan jihad is attracting fewer foreign fighters following the death of Osama bin Laden, the growing threat posed by US drones, and lack of funds, Western security officials say.

 

While no precise figure is available, it would appear that the number of would-be jihadists from abroad has been drying up, according to one security official who declined to be named.

 

However, more Pakistanis are willing to take up the fight and make up the numbers, he also warned.

 

“Over the past six months, young Frenchmen there have nearly all left Pakistan. There were 20 to 30 of them, who had either converted (to Islam) or had links to the Maghreb; today there are hardly any left,” he said.

 

“Other European countries whose nationals used to go to Pakistan to join the jihad have drawn the same conclusion — a drastic reduction over recent months,” he added.

 

The “Arab Spring” revolts also acted as a magnet, with a number of jihadists moving to Libya to join the fight to remove Moamer Kadhafi from power, he said.

 

“Fighting in Afghanistan is also less attractive because of the idea that the Afghan taliban want to concentrate more on home fighting and that world jihad is less and less their cup of tea,” he added.

 

For Frank Cilluffo, who co-authored “Foreign Fighters” for the Homeland Security Policy Institute, “first and foremost, military actions, including the use of drones, has made the environment less hospitable to foreign fighters traveling to the region, by disrupting Al-Qaeda s (and associated entities ) training camps and pipelines.”

 

Direct and indirect accounts by jihadists also speak of disarray within Al-Qaeda in northwestern Pakistan where activists avoid coming together for fear of being attacked and whose weapons training now takes place indoors because of aerial and satellite surveillance.

 

In a report, entitled “Militant Pipeline” describing the links between the northwestern Pakistani frontier and the West, researcher Paul Cruickshank quotes one Ustadh Ahmad Faruq, described as a Pakistan-based Al-Qaeda spokesman who recently acknowledged his network s difficulties.

 

“The freedom we enjoyed in a number of regions has been lost. We are losing people and lack resources. Our land is being squeezed and drones fly over us,” he reportedly said in an audio cassette.

 

“It s difficult to have reliable figures,” on the number of foreign fighters, according to Cruickshank, who is a fellow at New York University s Center on Law and Security.

 

“I think the drone strikes have been a major issue for the militants, the death of bin Laden is going to be a very big challenge as well. He was so important for a lot of these militants — he was the Al-Qaeda brand.

 

“By going over there they were joining his cause. The fact that he has been removed from the scene is likely to be a great recruiting challenge for Al-Qaeda,” he said.

 

“But the conflict is still going on in Afghanistan and in the radical circles it is still viewed as a very legitimate jihad. So it s likely that the number of volonteers is going to be diminished, but as long as there are US soldiers to fight, I don t think it s going to dry up entirely,” he added.

 

Hafiz Hanif, a 17-year-old Afghan who trained in northwest, recently told Newsweek magazine the number of foreign fighters there was dwindling.

 

“When new people came they brought new blood, enthusiasm and money. All that has been lost. Now leaders seem to spend all their time moving from one place to another for their safety,” he said.
 

India piles up arms with China in mind

 

In recent weeks, India has decided to buy 126 fighter jets from France, taken delivery of a nuclear-powered submarine from Russia and prepared for its first aircraft carrier modernizing its military to face a rising China.

 

India and China have a long history of tension, dating back to a 1962 border war, and New Delhi has watched with dismay in recent years as Beijing has increased its influence in the Indian Ocean.

 

China has financed the development of ports in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar, virtually encircling India. Beijing s recent efforts to get access to facilities in the Seychelles have prodded New Delhi to renew its own outreach to the Indian Ocean island state off its west coast.

 

With its recent purchases, running into tens of billions of dollars, India is finally working to counter what it sees as aggressive incursions by neighboring China into a region India has long dominated.

 

“The Indian military is strengthening its forces in preparation to fight a limited conflict along the disputed border, and is working to balance Chinese power projection in the Indian Ocean,” James Clapper, the U.S. director of national intelligence, told a Senate committee last week.

 

India has created new infantry mountain divisions and plans to raise a strike corps aimed at countering aggression by China. Their border still has not been agreed upon despite 15 rounds of talks, and patrols from the two sides frequently face off on the ground.

 

Analysts say that although the probability of a conflict between the two Asian giants is remote, a short, sharp conflict in the disputed Himalayan heights can t be ruled out.

 

“Over the last couple of years, the Chinese have been acting more and more aggressively in the political, diplomatic and military arena,” said retired Brig. Gurmeet Kanwal, director of the Indian army-funded Centre for Land Warfare Studies in New Delhi.

 

Indian leaders and defense strategists have watched with alarm as China modernized its forces and extended its military advantage over India. For some in India, countering China is taking precedence even over checking longtime rival Pakistan. “Of late, there has been a realization (in India) that China is the real danger of the future,” Kanwal said.
To compete, India has embarked on a long-overdue drive to modernize its forces and replace their obsolescent, Soviet-era weapons.

 

Its orders for fighter jets, naval frigates, helicopters and armaments have made India the world s largest importer of arms. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said India accounted for 9 percent of all the world s weapon imports in 2010, the latest year for which figures were available.

 

Last week s order of 126 combat aircraft, won by France s Dassault, followed a bitter battle by global jet manufacturers hoping to entice India.

 

The initial cost for the 126 planes is estimated at about $11 billion, but on-board weaponry, technology transfers, maintenance, warranties and other costs are expected to almost double the price.

 

The Indian navy last week took command of a Russian Nerpa nuclear submarine, renamed INS Chakra-II, at the Russian port of Vladivostok, propelling India into an elite group of countries operating underwater nuclear-powered vessels. Others in the club are the United States, France, Russia, Britain and China.

 

The Chakra-II, on lease from Russia for the next 10 years at a cost of nearly $1 billion, is expected to be inducted into the navy by March. Later this year, India is expected to take delivery of a retrofitted Soviet-built aircraft carrier.

 

In addition, six Scorpene subs being built in India under license from France in a $5 billion deal are expected to start going into service in 2015, three years behind schedule, said Defense Minister A.K. Antony. Labor problems and difficulties procuring needed technology have hampered the project, he told the Indian Parliament recently. Critics also blame India s sluggish bureaucracy for the delays.

 

“India s efforts at modernizing its forces have been very slow,” said Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, a defense analyst at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation.
Some Indian military experts complain that the country is not doing enough to upgrade its forces to the level befitting the regional power it aspires to be.
“It s not only China that is rising. India is on the ascent too, and it s a trend that will continue for some decades,” said retired Air Vice Marshal Kapil Kak at the Centre for Air Power Studies in New Delhi.

 

India may be watching China s overtures to its neighbors with alarm, but New Delhi has also embarked on its own effort to reach out to the Southeast Asian and East Asian countries in Beijing s backyard.

 

India has struck a strategic partnership with Vietnam, including helping Hanoi beef up its defense capabilities. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been actively pursuing a “Look East” policy, engaging the leaders of South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, among others. The policy has resulted in a troupe of high-level visits to India, bolstering trade and economic cooperation.

 

Nowhere is the contest between China and India more evident than in Myanmar, where both of the energy-seeking Asian giants are caught in a race to gain access to the country s natural gas sources.

 

India has regularly conducted defense exercises with countries in the region. It is scheduled to host the navies of 14 Asian countries in maritime exercises later this week; the Chinese and Pakistani navies have not been invited.

 

And, while India is increasing its defense capabilities, China is doing the same, but faster, making it difficult for India to catch up. The Chinese government s military budget is the second largest in the world after the United States.

 

India has raised two mountain divisions of soldiers to add to its existing high-altitude troops. Around 36,000 soldiers and officers of the divisions have been posted in the remote northeast, not far from India s Arunachal Pradesh state, which China claims as part of its territory.

 

A proposal for a mountain strike corps is awaiting clearance by India s Cabinet, and an independent armored brigade for the mountain region also is in the works. India hopes to show it can strike deep beyond its neighbor s borders to serve as a deterrent for any Chinese aggression, Kanwal said.

 

“India is building up its capability for offensive operations in the mountains with a view to taking the fight into Chinese territory,” Kanwal said.
 

LPG price hike hits Multan consumers

TrendPK.com

MULTAN: Power load-shedding may come to an end today, but there appears to be no let-up to ongoing gas crisis.

In Multan, domestic consumers and rickshaw drivers are faced with severe difficulties due to rising prices of LPG gas.

The price of LPG has reached at Rs160/kg with an increase of Rs.15/kg.

Domestic consumers, who are deprived of Sui gas connections, say rising LPG price is already out of their purchasing power. They say inflation is on rise while their income remains unchanged.

Drivers of LPG-run rickshaws have also expressed similar sentiments. 

US Congress hearing of Balochistan annoys Pakistan

 

Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit said that Pakistani embassy in Washington has taken strong notice of the meeting of the US congress committee on foreign affairs to deliberate the issue of Balochistan on Wednesday

 

The official website of US Congress displayed the notification and topic of the meeting.

 

A Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher will chair the hearing.

 

Rohrabacher recently in an article expressed support for an independent Balochistan.

 

“Perhaps we should even consider support for a Balochistan carved out of Pakistan to diminish radical power there (in Pakistan),” Rohrabacher wrote in his article.

 

“Our embassy in Washington is already in touch with the organizers of the hearing of the committee. They know how we feel about it. Our concerns have been forcefully conveyed in Washington,” Basit told a news agency when he was asked about US legislator’s planned deliberation over the most sensitive issue of Pakistan.

 

The powerful House of Representatives committee, that would hold deliberations on the hot issue of restive Balochistan, also oversees America’s foreign assistance programs. And the touching a sensitive issue by US legislators is deemed very important when the deteriorating Pak-US relations are in process of repairing.

 

When contacted for his official version over the meeting of the US congress Committee, Advisor on Human Rights Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar said that a foreign country’s parliament is involved in it, “We cannot comment on it. The Pakistani foreign office comments would be our stance”.

 

The US State Department involved itself in the issue of Balochistan when its spokesperson Victoria Nuland last month urged Pakistan to “really lead and conduct a dialogue that takes the Balochistan issue forward”.

 

“The United States is deeply concerned about the ongoing violence in Balochistan, especially targeted killings, disappearances and other human rights abuses,” she said.

 

Interestingly, Nuland addressed the issue in a “twitter-briefing” that the department holds every Friday.

 

Pakistani officials say that some foreign hands are involved in fanning the violence in the province along Afghan border. –Online
 

No economic growth without Pak structural changes: IMF

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has concluded the 2011 Article-IV consultation and proposals for post-programme monitoring regarding Pakistan s overall economic situation.

 

Giving the current state of Pakistani economy, the IMF says that Pakistan s economic performance has weakened and external pressures are mounting. “In 2010/11, real GDP expanded by 2.4 percent—far below the estimated 7 percent required to absorb the two million new labor market entrants annually—with inflation persistently in double digits”, it pointed out.

 

“Unemployment is high when underemployment and unpaid employment are taken into account, while poverty incidence and measures of human development are at worrisome levels”, the report reads adding that the efforts to boost revenue mobilization were once again frustrated by a lack of political support, and the fiscal deficit widened to 6.6 percent of GDP in 2010/11.

 

While the economy is recovering from the floods, the external position, until recently a source of strength on booming exports and workers’ remittances, is deteriorating. “The rupee has come under some pressure, prompting State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) exchange market intervention. The SBP’s foreign exchange reserves have declined by about $2 billion in the last six months”, the report outlines.

 

Making predictions about Pakistan s economy, based on the on-ground situation, IMF says that “on current policies, Pakistan’s near- and medium-term prospects are challenging. Growth would remain too low to absorb the large number of new entrants into the labor force, inflation would remain high, and the external position would weaken further”.

 

Notwithstanding the official figures, “IMF estimates that in 2011/12, real GDP growth is projected at 3.4 percent and average Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation at 12 percent”. “Monetary policy has become more accommodative, with the SBP directly or indirectly (through liquidity injections via open market operations) financing fiscal deficits (which is likely to increase inflation)”, it argued.

 

“A deterioration in the current account balance due to lower cotton/textile prices and a sharp slowdown in remittances growth, continued difficulties in attracting external financing, and the beginning of repayments to the IMF will likely put further pressure on the balance of payments this year, with reserves projected at $12.1 billion by end 2011/12″, the report mentions.

 

In the absence of corrective measures, the fiscal deficit was likely to reach 7 percent of GDP, much higher than the government’s revised budget target of 4.7 percent. “Moreover, there are considerable downside risks to this already difficult baseline, particularly in the context of an increasingly difficult global environment and concerns about policy weakening ahead of senate elections in 2012 and parliamentary elections in 2013″, it informed.

 

The report does take into account the background and difficulties faced by the Pakistani economy in the recent past, including external and domestic economic shocks, political uncertainty, and security problems. Despite these challenges, the economic policymakers have taken policy actions and implemented several reforms, including those under the recently expired Stand-By Arrangement with IMF, which helped the economy avoid a full-blown crisis in 2008/09, the report observed.

 

“These actions and reforms include establishment of an interest rate corridor, implementation of a more market-based exchange rate regime, and a strengthening of the enforcement powers of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). In addition, the authorities substantially raised electricity tariffs and domestic prices of the main petroleum products, and the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) provided basic income support to the poor during the various shocks that have hit Pakistan”.

 

Despite the healthy economic outlook and steps taken last year, IMF does forewarn Pakistan about the imminent challenges. “Unresolved structural problems (especially in the energy sector), two major floods, difficulties in implementing key policy reforms, and a more challenging global environment have combined to limit growth and employment creation and made the economy highly vulnerable, with few buffers to absorb shocks”, the Fund suggests.
The IMF Executive Board, that takes policy decisions regarding member countries, has assessed that “Pakistan continues to fall short of its economic potential, and called for a reorientation of macroeconomic and structural policies to stem near-term risks to macroeconomic stability, and to lay the foundation for durable and inclusive growth over the medium term”.

 

In particular, merit in further broadening the tax base, restructuring public enterprises, eliminating poorly targeted subsidies, phasing out commodity procurement operations, strengthening the framework for fiscal devolution and the incentives for provincial governments to raise revenue were recommended.

 

“Monetary and exchange rate policies need to better focus on containing inflation and external risks. Monetary policy is now too accommodative, and should be tightened if inflation or external pressures increase”, the IMF stated.

 

Regarding SBP policies, the report says that “central bank financing of the budget needs to be curtailed, and greater operational independence of the central bank needs to be secured. More exchange rate flexibility needed to facilitate external adjustment and safeguard foreign reserves”.

 

“Rising non-performing loan ratios and other weaknesses in banks’ balance sheets present risks to financial stability. Stronger supervisory oversight, improved mechanisms needed for resolving problem banks, and the prompt establishment of a bank-financed deposit insurance scheme”, the Fund says about the banking sector.

 

The IMF Directors also urged the authorities to address long-standing deficiencies in the regulatory regimes against money laundering and terrorism financing. They said high priority should be attached to improving the business environment, boosting external competitiveness, and upgrading the power sector to remove its burden on the public finances and provide a reliable electricity supply to support growth.

 

Later, addressing a press conference, IMF mission chief for Pakistan, Adnan Mazarei, conceded that “Pakistan s security problems and general economic health are a problem. External sector deteroriation and remittances are going down because of developments in international economy”, he argued.

 

He pointed out that “cotton prices have come down drastically, and oil prices increasing which will put pressure on Pakistani economy. Demands for Pakistani prices are decreasing. He said that “energy sector will remain struggling unless drastic structural changes are taken and only price increase will not be able to solve the problem”.

 

Commenting of the State Bank policies, he said the central bank had pumped a large amount of liquidity in markets, which will increase prices and will also have an impact on bank profits. “It is quite correct to say that Pakistan economy is facing huge vulnerabilities and risks”, he said when asked to remark on the country s financial health.

 

On a question about Pakistan s expected revenues from granting 3G licenses, he said “Pakistani authorities expect a maximum of 700-800 million dollars from 3G licenses, which will only bring budget deficit down to 6.6 percent”.

 

With current kind of growth rate, job creation was very difficult, he said adding that “investment climate in Pakistan is not very good, and steps need to be taken to attarct it”. “Improving relations with India and WTO tariff exemptions for 75 items recently should help Pakistan in this regard”, he emphasized.

 

The re-payment of previous IMF loan will start this month (February), he said while adding, in response to another question, that Pakistani authorities had not requested any new loan. “In the foreseeable future, pressure on rupee could continue, balance of payments are also affected by political situation in Pakistan”, he concluded.– Contributed by Awais Saleem, News Trends correspondent in Washington, DC

 

Philippine quake toll 43

 

The powerful quake hit in a narrow strait between the heavily populated island provinces of Negros and Cebu, causing buildings to collapse, cracking roads and bridges, and shutting down the power supply.

 

In Cebu city, a popular tourist destination and city of 2.3 million, hotel guests scrambled to higher floors as unfounded rumours that a huge tsunami was bearing down spread by text message.

 

At least 29 were killed by landslides while 10 others were crushed by collapsing buildings in the mountainous town of of Guihulngan in Negros, said regional military official Colonel Francisco Patrimonio.

 

There was also an undetermined number of wounded, he added.

 

“Some private homes collapsed along with our court house and parts of the public market. We got people out of the buildings but we could not evacuate the homes,” police chief Senior Inspector Alvin Futalan told AFP.

 

Four other people were killed in other parts of Negros which also suffered widespread power outages and cracked roads and bridges, hampering rescue efforts, Patrimonio told reporters.

 

“Looting is now rampant in Guihulngan which forced us to commit (more troops) with the Philippine national police,” the colonel added.

 

Civil defence chief Benito Ramos said the violent shaking of buildings in Cebu city — 50 kilometres (31 miles) from the epicentre — led to broken windows and cracks on some walls even if no high rises sustained major damage.

 

Local residents said there was panic in the country s second-biggest city, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage there.

 

“There is news going around of tsunami waves, so we are doing our best to keep everybody calm,” Barbi Patino, a spokesman for the 17-story Parklane International Hotel in Cebu told AFP.

 

Pedro Baldomino, a student in Cebu, said he saw many office workers in downtown Cebu leaving their buildings after a public announcement on radio warned people to brace for expected aftershocks.

 

“I was having lunch when the ground shook. Water spilled from glasses and plates clanked. Some of the diners rushed outside, some of us stayed underneath the tables,” he said.

 

Philippine government seismologists earlier raised a precautionary tsunami alert over the quake, but lowered it two hours later.

 

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said there was no danger of a widespread destructive tsunami.

 

Almost four hours after the quake struck, a strong 6.2-magnitude aftershock hit the central Philippines again, panicking rescuers once more.

 

The Philippines sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” — a belt around the Pacific Ocean where friction between shifting tectonic plates causes frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity.–AFP

 

Kashmir – key milestone for Indo-Pak growth: Shankar

TrendPK.com

NEW DELHI: Indian Congressman and the former member of Indian parliament Mani Shankar described Kashmir issue being the biggest milestone to be surpassed if the two countries want serious progress on other sectors, reports TrendPK.

He said all the other longstanding issues would automatically come to logical and easily attained solution as soon as both the countries become able to unravel Kashmir dispute.

Addressing newsmen at Karachi Press Club, Shankar said two countries showed sincere readiness to some extent and became able to resolve Kashmir row through strings of dialogue during the times of former President Musharraf. “Process of dialogue was underway as long as Musharraf stood clang to the power,” he mentioned.

According to their nature, all the disputes need only love, affection and seriousness to get unstitched, Shankar observed, making it clear that war cannot become answer to any dispute. TrendPK

FIFA to take steps to reinstate EFA

 

FIFA will take steps to reinstate Egypt s Football Association (EFA), suspended by Cairo after 74 people died in violence at a match in Port Said, FIFA chief Sepp Blatter said on Sunday.

 

Blatter, attending an extraordinary congress of the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) at its Paraguay headquarters, said the EFA s suspension after Wednesday s violence was a direct intervention into soccer affairs which FIFA could not accept.

 

“The information we have received at FIFA confirms the number of dead as 74. It was also confirmed that the (Egyptian)
government intervened directly by suspending the football association,” Blatter told a news conference.

 

“We are going to take up the case from tomorrow (Monday) so that this association is reinstated because it is the (body)
that has the responsibility to organise the competitions and it must carry on (its work),” the president of world soccer s governing body said.

 

The incident, when fans invaded the pitch in Port Said after home team al-Masry beat Cairo giants al-Ahli, was Egypt s worst soccer disaster and Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri sacked the EFA board.

 

It was also the incident with the highest number of victims in Egypt since an uprising brought down the government of Hosni Mubarak early last year.

 

Most of the deaths were among people trampled in the crush of the panicking crowd. Demonstrators who staged anti-government protests after the incident blamed the country s military authorities.

 

“FIFA s number one objective is to protect football, protect the association and naturally ensure these situations are not
repeated,” Blatter said.

 

“But we also need a police (force) or army because in football we don t have the power to intervene directly.”

 

The Conmebol congress attended by Blatter decided to modify its statutes to reduce the intervention of regional governments in football affairs.

 

Its president, Paraguayan Nicolas Leoz, recalled the case in 2008 when FIFA suspended Peru from all football after the
Peruvian government declared the re-election of the country s football federation president Manuel Burga illegal because of allegations of corruption.

“We have had problems in some South American countries because some governments have become involved in issues that are exclusively for the sporting authorities. The new statute follows clear FIFA laws on this matter,” Leoz said.

Blatter also said he was confident Brazil would be ready on time to stage the 2014 World cup finals.

 

“One matter we have (pending) is to obtain all the guarantees from the political authorities. We still lack some
guarantees but at the end of March we will have everything and I m sure Brazil will organise a great World Cup,” he said.

 

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