Lankans using civil war as excuse to seek asylum: Envoy

November 7th, 2009 SYDNEY - The Sri Lankan Government has said that the leader of a boatload of asylum-seekers held in Indonesia on their way to Australia, Alex, is a known people-smuggler, who had been previously deported from Canada. Alex is the spokesman for 255 Sri Lankans, whose boat was detained last month and they remain moored at the port of Merak in Java.

October 13th, 2009 GENEVA - Mountazer al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist known for throwing his shoes at George W. Bush last December, arrived Tuesday in Geneva, reported local media.

October 12th, 2009 Australian PM calls Indonesian leader on refugeesCANBERRA, Australia — Prime Minister Kevin Rudd confirmed on Tuesday that he telephoned Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono about Australia's influx of asylum seekers before the Indonesian navy reportedly intercepted a boat load of 260 Sri Lankans bound for Australia at the weekend. Australian newspapers reported Tuesday that Rudd made a personal plea on Saturday to Yudhoyono to intervene after Australian intelligence officials discovered that a boat carrying the Sri Lankan men, women and children was leaving Indonesian waters bound for Australia.

September 21st, 2009 GENEVA - Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi, who threw his shoes at former US president George W Bush, said he wants political asylum in Switzerland, a Swiss channel reported Monday. In parts of an interview posted on the website of TSR, a French-language channel, al-Zaidi said he preferred Switzerland as it was a neutral country that "does not support the occupation of Iraq." The journalist said he wanted to gather together Iraqis to launch a class action lawsuit against Bush and other political leaders who backed the invasion of Iraq in 2003, for "war crimes." Al-Zaidi repeated accusations that he was abused and tortured while imprisoned for launching the shoes at Bush during his final months in office.

September 20th, 2009 54 asylum seekers rescued from boat off AustraliaADELAIDE, Australia — Australian border protection officials rescued 54 asylum seekers on Sunday from a boat stranded in northern waters, the home affairs minister said. It was the sixth boatload of asylum seekers that entered Australian waters in the last two weeks, an influx that has stoked political debate over the country's relaxed immigration policies.

August 30th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Former Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf may strike a deal with the Pakistan Muslim League -Nawaz (PML-N) to escape the high treason trial under Article Six of the Constitution. According to sources close to Musharraf, the former Army Chief is trying to seal a pact with the PML-N under which he would formalize his exile in Britain and stay 'quiet' for at least 10 years.

August 13th, 2009 Boat with 77 people intercepted by AustraliaADELAIDE, Australia — A boat carrying 77 suspected asylum seekers was intercepted Thursday in the Indian Ocean, the latest in a string of such vessels caught in Australian waters this year. Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor said in a statement that the vessel was stopped at 2 a.m.

July 31st, 2009 KATHMANDU - The daughter of a top Maoist leader in Nepal has been arrested in France for travelling without documents while seeking asylum from the French government. Shova Gajurel, whose father Chandra Prakash Gajurel is in charge of the international affairs of the Maoist party, is being held at the Lesquin Administrative Retention Centre in Lille town in northern France where foreigners found guilty of violating immigration laws are detained.

July 21st, 2009 LONDON - The Saudi Arabian princess, who is in secret British asylum after giving birth to an illegitimate child, told the British Asylum Tribunal that her country's law would award her killing by flogging and stoning if she was made to return home. The young woman, who has a love child with a British man, won her claim for refugee status after telling a judge that her adulterous affair made her liable to death by stoning under Sharia law, The Telegraph reports.

July 15th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US Wednesday assured India that it has no plans to appoint a special envoy for Kashmir as it considers it to be a matter between New Delhi and Islamabad. "I can assure you that we are not going to appoint a special Kashmir envoy," Assistant Secretary for South Central Asian Affairs Robert O.

June 11th, 2009 DHAKA - A top Bangladesh Army officer has sought political asylum in the US to avoid returning home after his diplomatic assignment was curtailed. He has been declared an absconder, media reports here said Wednesday.

June 6th, 2009 VIENNA - One of the six suspects involved in the violent attack on a gurdwara in Vienna has been released. According to sources, he was released due to lack of evidence.

May 5th, 2009 Australia detains boatload of suspected refugeesSYDNEY — Australian border agents intercepted a boat carrying 50 suspected asylum seekers on Tuesday, the latest in a wave of suspected refugee hopefuls to reach the country's waters this year. Australia's Customs and Border Protection Service said the boat was intercepted 400 miles (640 kilometers) northwest of Broome in Western Australia state.

April 29th, 2009 Australian authorities detain suspected refugeesSYDNEY — Australian authorities detained four suspected asylum-seekers on a remote island off Australia's northeast coast, the latest in a wave of suspected refugee hopefuls to reach the country's territorial waters this year. Border protection agents in a helicopter spotted the four men on Deliverance Island and transferred them to a detention facility on nearby Horn Island, Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus said in a statement Tuesday night.

April 22nd, 2009 Australian navy detains boat of suspected refugeesSYDNEY — Australia's navy intercepted another boatload of suspected asylum seekers off the country's northwestern coast on Saturday — the eighth boat to illegally enter Australian waters this year. The boat, carrying 54 passengers and two crew members, was intercepted 100 miles (160 kilometers) southwest of Ashmore Island, Minister for Home Affairs Bob Debus said in a statement.