WEEK OUT

Cameron's sharp snub riles Pak
On his first visit to India on Wednesday, British PM David Cameron said he wants to take Indo-UK ties to the next level. "I'm a new prime minister. I lead a new coalition government. And we're making a new start for Britain and its relationships around the world, " he said in a 30-minute lecture to techies and business leaders at IT major Infosys Technologies in Bangalore. Speaking on a myriad issues, Cameron risked slipping into a diplomatic row when he insinuated Pakistan's involvement in the Mumbai 26/11 attacks. He condemned Pakistan's role in exporting terror and said, "We cannot tolerate in any sense the idea that this country (Pakistan) is allowed to look both ways and is able, in any way, to promote the export of terror, whether to India or whether to Afghanistan or anywhere else in the world. " The prime minister also said that Britain and India have been united in suffering terrorism originating in Pakistan. Cameron's remarks come in the wake of the controversial leak of US's security documents that allege Pakistan's role in the Afghanistan war and says US has fostered the nexus by providing monetary assistance. The leaks have already touched a raw nerve with the Obama administration that found them to be "unacceptable". Noting that terrorism is a "global issue", Pakistan foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit said the world community should instead ask India to "view this issue objectively".

WEEK IN

Sarkozy orders dismantling of gypsy camps
In a bid to restore the law and order situation, French president Nicholas Sarkozy has ordered 300 illegal camps of travellers and Roma gypsies to be dismantled. Recently, a riot in Loire Valley town resulted in travellers attacking the police after a youth was shot dead. Sarkozy warned that the miscreants will be punished and a new legislation would be drafted to make it easier to expel illegal Roma travellers. The govenment said that these camps are "sources of illegal trafficking, of profoundly shocking living standards, of exploitation of children for begging, of prostitution and crime". "Within the next three months, half of the illegal camps will be dismantled - camps and squats - that is to say some 300, " said interior minister Brice Hortefeux after a special government meeting.