A Nicosia court was told on Wednesday that Cyprus’s most notorious criminal is the man who had masterminded from inside his prison cell the snatching of the remains of ex-President Tassos Papadopoulos three months ago.

The remains were recovered by police on Monday following information given by one of the three suspects involved in the case.

A police investigator told the court that the theft of the remains was planned by Andonis Prokopiou Kitas, mostly known as “Al Capone”, a serial killer who is serving a life sentence for the murder of two women.

Kitas was not in court when his two alleged accomplices were brought before a judge and remanded in custody for eight days. He was just informed that he is a suspect in the case and was placed in solitary confinement.

The other two suspects are Kitas’ brother and a 31-year-old Indian immigrant.

The police investigator told the court that the Indian immigrant made a voluntary statement naming the two brothers as his accomplices.

He told them the imprisoned man had planned the stealing, which was carried out by him and Kitas’ brother.

He described in detail how he removed the remains from the grave on the instructions of Kitas’ brother, while he kept watch.

He said he received just 200 euros for the act from the convict’s brother and expected more money, which however never came.

He also said that he had repeatedly contacted Papadopoulos’ family demanding money in exchange for information on where the body was. He told the family he wanted to return to India to start a new life.

According to police, the Indian suspect said he was remorseful.

Kitas, who is alleged to have masterminded the theft made the headlines over a year ago when he escaped from a private hospital where he had been living for a long time, faking illness.

He made his escape on December 12, 2008, the day ex- President Tassos Papadopoulos died of cancer at the age 74.

He managed to stay at large for almost three months before being apprehended in a spectacular police operation.

The remains of the ex-President were stolen on December 11, 2009, one day before the anniversary of his death, when the family and political friends were about to hold a memorial service for him.

The Papadopoulos’ family said they never paid any sum of money to the culprits on the advice of the Police.

Three factions in Ukraine’s Parliament, the Regions Party, the Communist Party and the Lytvyn’s blok, decided to create a new ruling coalition along with some individual lawmakers, said a leader of the Regions Party on Wednesday.

“The Regions Party, the Communist Party and the Lytvyn’s blok have made the decision to form a new ruling coalition together with some individual deputies,” first vice-speaker Oleksandr Lavrinovych said in an interview with a local television channel.

He said that a list of Ukrainian MPs joining in the new coalition and a coalition agreement will be published in the coming days.

“We have not received a decision on joining the coalition from the fourth faction, the Our Ukraine – People’s Self-Defense,” he said.

Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych signed a Law that allows individual deputies to join a parliamentary ruling coalition on Wednesday.

Yanukovych signed the Law after meeting with the leaders of parliamentary factions, the president’s press service said.

“We need to create a majority in Ukrainian parliament. The Ukrainian community and our partners around the world expect political stability in our country,” Yanukovych said while addressing the leaders of factions.

Yanukovych stressed the importance of forming a parliamentary majority and an effective government as soon as possible.

Ukraine’s parliament passed the amendment to rules on forming a ruling coalition on Tuesday with 235 supporting votes in the 450- seat assembly.

Under previous rules, deputies could only join a coalition if a majority of their party voted to join as a whole faction.

The change should allow Yanukovych’s party to secure the parliamentary majority it needs to form a new government, allowing it to move more swiftly to tackle Ukraine’s deep economic problems.

Last week, Ukraine’s parliament passed a non-confidence vote against the government led by Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

According to the constitution, Ukraine’s political leaders have 30 days to form a new coalition. If they fail, Yanukovych can exercise his right to dissolve the parliament and call early legislative elections.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that a new Russia-U.S. treaty on nuclear arms reduction could be signed within two or three weeks.

However, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the same day that Washington did not intend to “rush the negotiations.”

These different sayings have indicated that the signing of a replacement document for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-1) might still be up in the air.

So what’s actually barring the two sides from reaching a deal?

Russia and the United States have been working on a successor to the 1991 START-1 that expired on Dec. 5, 2009.

An outline of the new pact, agreed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama, includes slashing nuclear warheads to 1,500-1,675 and delivery vehicles to 500-1,000.

Since May 19 last year, ten rounds of negotiations have been conducted between the two sides. Despite a media highlight, a definitive date for the signing of the new treaty remains undetermined.

According to Russian media, divergences between Moscow and Washington lie in four aspects: number of reductions, delivery vehicles, verification and the linkage between nuclear arsenal cut and missile defense.

Based on recent assurances from the Russian side, analysts said the majority of divergences have probably been solved.

Russia has repeatedly said that the two sides are coming close to reaching a new deal. On Jan. 24, Medvedev said the new arms treaty with the United States was “95 percent coordinated.”

On Feb. 24 in a telephone conversation with Obama, Medvedev “stressed the importance of concluding the negotiations in a short term to prepare this document, which is critical to strategic security and stability, for signing as soon as possible.”

On March 5 at a meeting with Defense Ministry officials, Medvedev said Russia “managed to come very close to a new nuclear arms reduction treaty that will further cut relevant arms in a relatively short period of time through intensive talks with the United States.”

However, on Tuesday White House spokesman Gibbs said: “We are certainly hopeful that that can be done in short order,” but “we’ re not looking to rush the negotiations in order to … have a signing ceremony prior to” the Nuclear Security Summit slated for April 12-13 in Washington.

One lingering stumbling block may be the issues concerning missile defense, said analysts.

Russian media have cited sources as saying that Moscow suggested to exchange relevant information in letters, which shall also be included in the new treaty to become legally binding. Washington may not want such inclusion, but would rather take it as a political responsibility.

Russia’s top diplomat Lavrov reiterated on Tuesday that the new arms control deal would link strategic offensive and defensive weapons, which was agreed by Medvedev and Obama during their last April’s meeting.

“This link will undoubtedly be reflected. It will be documented in a legally binding form,” he said.

Therefore it is quite practical to determine the relationship between strategic offensive and defensive weapons, said analysts.

Meanwhile Russia still awaits confirmation and further explanation from the United States concerning its plans to deploy elements of a missile shield in East Europe.

Obama last September scrapped plans for a radar in the Czech Republic and 10 missile interceptors in Poland pursued by his predecessor as a so-called protection against possible missile threats from “rogue states.”

In February, however, Romania and Bulgaria angered Moscow by announcing that they were ready to be part of the revamped U.S. missile defense system.

Yet in all, the divergences over the missile defense issue shall not prevent the two sides from reaching the new START deal, as signing the new pact reflected the political will of both countries’ leaders, said analysts.

For Obama, inking the deal would indicate the correctness of his policy to “reset” U.S.-Russian relations, as well as his capability to reach agreements with Russia.

For Medvedev, the deal would be the most important one for him to sign since taking office.

Therefore, the new treaty will eventually come to place, said analysts. But only time can tell when that’s going to happen, they added.

British born child Sahil Saeed, 7, who was kidnapped for ransom a week ago from northwest Pakistan ’s city of Jhelum, has been recovered safely by security agencies, government officials confirmed Thursday.

Provincial Law minister, Rana Sana Ullah, confirmed the child recovery while talking to media. “Yes, I was informed by security officials about the success yesterday, Thanks God all was set right and we recovered the child safely,” he said.

Ullah also said that “close relatives of the child family were found involved, police has arrested two of them and more investigation is going on.”

“After the completion of investigation by police more details will be provided to Media,” he added.

According to sources Pakistani police officials and secret agencies took part in the operation on Wednesday early morning in Sialkot city of Punjab and recovered the child from a house and arrested two accused including one woman.

The child was handed over to his father Raja Naqqash Saeed who has flown to England the same day.

British media has also confirmed the child arrival in Britain.

Sahil on his visit to Pakistan, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, was abducted after his grandmother’s house was raided by robbers armed with guns and hand grenades on 4th of this month when they were getting ready to go back.

The abductors demanded 100,000 sterling pounds for ransom.

His father, Saeed, told media after abduction that the kidnappers had put a noon deadline on the ransom for his safe return.

After this abduction, Pakistani Prime Minister Yusaf Raza Gillani assured the child’s father and British higher authorities for child recovery.

Common People in Pakistan are appreciating security agencies on this success.

When Xinhua contacted British High Commission in Islamabad, Habib ur Rehman, from public relation department, refused to confirm the child rescue news.

“We are not confirming anything yet till the further instructions come from British”, he said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday criticized Israel for its plans to build new settlement homes in East Jerusalem.

“Moscow was greatly concerned to learn about the plans announced by the Israeli Interior Ministry on March 9 to build 1,600 more housing units in Ramat Shlomo in East Jerusalem,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

“We view these steps by Israel as unacceptable. The actions go against the commonly recognized international legal basis for a (Middle East) settlement (and) predetermine the results of the negotiating process,” it said.

The ministry urged Israel to refrain from “such negative unilateral actions” at this sensitive time when the international community is stepping up efforts to bring the Middle East a lasting and just peace and both Palestinians and Israelis expressed a desire to resume talks.

Israel’s Interior Ministry approved on Tuesday the construction of 1,600 new settlement units in East Jerusalem.

The decision came after the Israeli and Palestinian sides agreed to hold indirect talks, and the quartet of mediators on the Middle East, which groups Russia, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations, is scheduled to meet in Moscow on March 19 to push forward the peace process.

His appointment was supported by 242 lawmakers in the 450-member assembly after President Viktor Yanukovych named Azarov as prime minister on Thursday morning.

Azarov pledged to eliminate the financial problems created by the previous government, saying his main task is to redraft and get approved a realistic budget.

Azarov was appointed first deputy prime minister and finance minister in late November 2002, when the cabinet of Viktor Yanukovych took office.

He served as acting prime minister from Dec. 7, 2004, to Dec. 28, 2004.

Azarov was named acting prime minister again in January 2005. He served in that position until shortly after the inauguration of Viktor Yushchenko. He was replaced on Jan. 24, 2005 by Yulia Tymoshenko.

The decision was supported by 238 lawmakers in the 450-member assembly after Ukraine’s parliament approved Mykola Azarov as prime minister on Thursday.

His appointment was supported by 242 lawmakers in the 450-member assembly after President Viktor Yanukovych named Azarov as prime minister on Thursday morning.

The nomination was made after parliament speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn announced that a majority coalition has been formed at the Ukrainian parliament earlier in the day.

Azarov pledged to eliminate the financial problems created by the previous government, saying his main task is to redraft and get approved a realistic budget.

The following are some basic facts and figures about Ukraine.

As the largest country in Europe, Ukraine covers an area of 603,700 square km. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south.

Ukraine has a long history which dates back to 4,500 BC. As a former Soviet republic, it declared independence on Aug. 24, 1991.

Ukraine’s landscape consists mostly of fertile plains and plateaus, crossed by rivers such as the Dnieper, Seversky Donets, Dniester and the Southern Buh as they flow south into the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov.

The country has a population of around 46 million. Ukrainians form the major ethnic group in the country, accounting for 77.8 percent of the population, according to an official census in 2001. Other ethnic groups include Russians (17.3 percent), Belarusians (0.6 percent) and Moldovans (0.5 percent).

Up to 67.5 percent of the population speak Ukrainian, the country’s official language and 29.6 percent of the population speak Russian.

The country transits about 85 percent of Russia’s natural gas delivered to West Europe.

The decision was supported by 239 lawmakers in the 450-member assembly after the parliament approved Mykola Azarov as prime minister on Thursday.

Yezhel served as a deputy defense minister from 1996 to 2001 and was commander of the Ukrainian Navy from 2001 to 2003.

Yezhel was dismissed from military service for Health reasons on Oct. 6, 2003. He then served as an advisor to the prime minister from June to December 2007.

Hryshchenko has been ambassador to Russia since June 10, 2008. Before that he served as first deputy secretary of the National Security and Defense Council. In 2006-2007, Hryshchenko was an advisor to the prime minister. He was foreign minister in 2003-2005.

Hryshchenko previously served as ambassador to the United States, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg as well as Ukraine’s permanent representative at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. In 1998-2000, he led the Ukrainian mission at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

He also served as a deputy foreign minister in 1995-1998.

Under the Ukraine constitution, the prime minister is nominated by the president on the recommendation of the 450-member unicameral parliament.

The prime minister will in turn nominate other ministers for the parliament’s approval. The parliament also has the right to dismiss the government.

In recent years, rivalries among the president, cabinet and the parliament, especially those within the parliament, have caused political unrest in Ukraine.

On Feb. 25, Viktor Yanukovych was sworn in as Ukraine’s new president and has tried to restore stability in the country to tackle the economic downturn.

Yanukovych was supported by the parliament which allowed the new president to consolidate power by quickly approving his nomination for prime minister.

Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was ousted on March 3 in a no-confidence vote.

His appointment was supported by 242 lawmakers in the 450-member assembly after President Viktor Yanukovych named Azarov as prime minister on Thursday morning.

At the same time, the Ukrainian parliament terminated the powers of the Yulia Tymoshenko government. It also started to appoint defense minister, foreign minister and other cabinet members.

Under the 1996 Constitution passed by the Ukranian parliament, the first since its independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine is a sovereign, independent and democratic republic ruled by Law. The president is the head of state. The Supreme Rada, or Ukraine’s parliament, is the legislative branch while the cabinet is the executive branch. Both are responsible to the president.

On Dec. 8, 2004, Ukraine’s parliament passed amendments to the Constitution that took effect on Jan. 1, 2006 and shifted significant powers from the president to the prime minister and the Supreme Rada. The Constitution was amended to transfer power, especially with respect to appointment of ministers, from the president to the prime minister.

Beginning from 2006, prime minister is nominated by president on the recommendation of the 450-member unicameral parliament. The prime minister will in turn nominate other ministers for the parliament’s approval. The parliament also has the right to dismiss government.

In recent years, rivalries among the president, cabinet and the parliament, especially those within the parliament, have caused great political unrest in Ukraine.

On Feb. 25, Viktor Yanukovych was sworn in as Ukraine’s new president, urging the cabinet and parliament to cooperate with him.