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worldquotemartialThe thing was I was possibly going to be involved when the filmwas of a different incarnation, before bin Laden was killed.

JOEL EDGERTON, confirming he is in talks to lead in a film about the killing of Osamabin Laden to be directed by Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow

( ) didyouknow?Scientists have discovered stem cells in the back of theeye which they say could be used to regenerate damagedtissues in the body. PTI

SECTARIAN VIOLENCE GRIPS NIGERIA, 13 DEADMAIDUGURI: Police say violence in two states in northeastNigeria has killed 13 people amid a wave of attacks by aradical Muslim sect. Police said on Saturday the attacksoccurred in Adamawa and Yobe states on Friday night. In

Adamawa, officials say gunmen suspected to belong to aradical sect known as Boko Haram killed eight worshippersat a church. In Yobe, a gun battle between the sect and

police killed at least two people.

Putin tells of secret christening at Orthodox ChristmasMOSCOW: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin attendedan Orthodox Christmas service on Saturday at the churchin his hometown of Saint Petersburg where he said he wassecretly christened as a baby in Soviet days. Both membersof the Russian ruling tandem, Putin and President DmitryMedvedev, attended services for Orthodox Christmas

which is celebrated on the night of January 6 and onJanuary 7, a public holiday.

Kenyan jets kill 60 or more Somali Islamist insurgentsNAIROBI:Kenyan fighter jets killed at least 60 Islamist Shebabinsurgents in southern Somalia in the latest air strike on insur-gent positions, officials said on Saturday. Levels of casualties

were very high in air strikes on Friday, Kenyan armyspokesman Colonel Cyrus Oguna told reporters, adding the

bombing raids hit rebel positions in Garbahare in southernSomalias Gedo region.

Musharraf does not rule out Pak ties with IsraelISLAMABAD: Pakistan should consider establishing ties withIsrael, said exiled former Pakistani President PervezMusharraf. His remarks likely to anger many in the Muslim-majority country where he hopes to make a political come-

back. Musharraf, who resigned in 2008 in disgrace, has said he

plans to return to Pakistan this month, despite possible arrest,in order to participate in a parliamentary election due by 2013.

Hot air balloon accident kills 11 in New ZealandWELLINGTON:A hot air balloon carrying 11 people turned into atower of sheer flame Saturday after hitting power lines in arural area of New Zealand, killing everyone aboard and horri-fying residents. Its a tragedy as bad as tragedies get, localpolice commander Brent Register said. It was New Zealandsdeadliest air accident in nearly 50 years. Two of those killed

jumped out of the basket in desperation before the fiery bal-loon hit the ground with a loud bang.

Sri Lanka targets three million dogs for mass cullCOLOMBO:Sri Lanka has lifted a moratorium on killing straydogs as the government attempts to cut down on the 2,000people that are hospitalised every day after being bitten, amedia report said on Saturday. Health minister MaithripalaSirisena told the Swarnavahini television network that the gov-ernment had decided to revert back to destroying strays, apractice suspended five years ago, because of rabies concerns.

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Relations with armyare fine, says ZardariAgence France-Presse letters@hindustantimes.com

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan PresidentAsif Ali Zardari says his gov-ernment is not at war with thearmy and judiciary after a scan-dal over an unsigned memo ask-ing for US help in curbing themight of the military.

Tension between the power-ful army and Zardaris weakcivilian administration soaredover the note, allegedly deliv-ered to then US joint chiefs ofstaff admiral Mike Mullen inMay and made public by anAmerican-Pakistani business-man in October.

We are not at war with thecourt. We are not at war withthe military. There is no war,Zardari said in excerpts of aninterview to private Geo televi-sion which is to be broadcastlate Saturday.

You think it is a clash, but Isay it is part of evolution. Thisclash will evolve and then sim-

mer down.The businessman, Mansoor

Ijaz, has claimed that Zardarifeared the military might over-throw his government andaccused then Pakistani ambas-sador to the US, HusainHaqqani, of crafting the memowith the presidents support.

Haqqani, who later resignedhis post, has denied the allega-tions and told Britains DailyTelegraph newspaper earlierthis week that the charges were

false and part of a psycho-logical war against him.

He also voiced fears about hissafety saying there are clearsecurity concerns given the hys-teria generated against me.

The US on Friday appealedfor Pakistan, Washingtonsuneasy ally in the war on ter-ror, to treat Haqqani in a waythat is fair, thats transparent.

Zardaris deeply unpopulargovernment is opposing aninvestigation ordered by the

Supreme Court into theunsigned memo. AFP

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardaris government is opposing aninvestigation ordered by the nations supreme court into theMemogate scandal. FILE PHOTO

AD TARGETINGFAMILY ANGERSHUNTSMANRos Krasny letters@hindustantimes.com

MANCHESTER: Republican presi-

dential hopeful Jon Huntsmanand members of his familyexpressed outrage on Friday atan advertisement targetedat his adopted daughters by agroup supporting rival candi-date Ron Paul.

An o nline ad a uthore d byNHLiberty4Paul showsfootage of Huntsman withdaughters Gracie, who wasadopted from China, and Asha,adopted from India, when theywere infants.

American values. OrChinese, the ad asks to a sound-track of Chinese music. It callsHuntsman the ManchurianCandidate and ends with animage of Huntsman dressed asChinas former communistleader Mao Zedong, and thewords Vote Ron Paul.

Paul, a Texas congressman,disavowed the ad during aninterview on Friday on CNN.

Huntsman termed the ad

just stupid and political cam-paign nonsense. REUTERS

India should be Asias anchor: USLalit K Jha letters@hindustantimes.com

WASHINGTON: With a long termstrategic partnership with India,the US wants to support its abil-ity to serve as an economicanchor in the Asia Pacific

region where it is already driv-ing economic developmentalong with another giant China,a top US commander has said.

Commander of the US Pacific

Command, admiral RobertWillard, said President BarackObamas new defence strategy,unveiled this week, underlinesthe growing importance of theAsia-Pacific region.

He said from the high growthdriven by Asian tiger economies

to the emergence of giants Indiaand China, the region has con-tinued to be a centre of immenseactivity.

At one point, it was, Asian

tigers, and now we look at Chinaand India and there are twoAsian giants that are driving theeconomic developments in theregion, Willard said delivering

the keynote address at theHawaii Military PartnershipConference.

He said the new DefenceStrategic Review unveiled byPresident Obama stresses onbuilding relationship with India,as the US increases its presence

in the Asia-Pacific region wherethe US economic and securityinterests come across a mix ofevolving challenges and oppor-tunities. PTI

MI5 tapped lines of kingPress Trust of India letters@hindustantimes.com

LONDON:Britains spy agency MI5tapped the phones of KingEdward VIII and his brother,the Duke of York, at the heightof the 1936 Abdication Crisis inBritain, a new book has claimed.

According to the biographyof Tommy Robertson, architectof Britains wartime counterintelligence operations, MI5 didlisten in on to the deliberationsof the king and his brother. Infact, in the constitutional crisis,

then UK Premier StanleyBaldwin called in Sir Vernon

Kell, head of MI5.Author Geoffrey Elliot ha s

claimed that Robertson recruited by Kell in the early

1930s tapped into the royalconversation.

Edward VIIIs infatuationwith American divorcee WallisSimpson had become a causethat ended in the abdication inDecember 1936. The shy, stam-mering Duke of York thenbecame King George VI.

In a four-page note to authorGeoffrey Elliot, Robertsonsbroth er, Major General IanRobertson, wrote that his broth-er told him how, under cover ofdarkness, he had slipped intoLondons Green Park, just offPiccadilly, and listened in to theking and future kings conver-

sation via a GPO telephone junc-tion box in the bushes.

CALL FOR UN TOHELP IN SYRIACAIRO:Arab foreign ministersmeet on Sunday to discusswhether to ask the UN to helptheir mission in Syria which hasfailed to end a 10-month crack-down on anti-governmentprotests in which thousandshave died. The proposal byQatar is to invite UN techniciansand human rights experts tohelp Arab monitors assesswhether Syria is honouring apledge to stop its crackdown,Arab League sources said.

A source said it might request

that UN staff helping the mis-sion be Arabs. REUTERS

King Edward VIII

Our relationships withAsian allies are critical to

the future stability andgrowth of the region

R O B E R T W I L L A R D

Jodi Kantor letters@hindustantimes.com

Michelle Obama was fumingat her husband and his team.The Democrats had just lost

Edward Kennedys senate seat inJanuary 2010. US President BarackObama was even-keeled as usual inmeetings, refusing to dwell on thefailure. The first lady could not fath-om how the White House hadallowed the seat, needed to pass thepresidents health care legislation,to slip away.

To her, the loss was more evidencethat the presidents advisers weretoo insular and not strategic. She

wanted her husband to be seen as atransformational figure, but manyvoters were beginning to view himas an ordinary politician.

The first lady never confrontedthe advisers directly that wasnther way but they heard of her dis-pleasure from the president. Shefeels as if our rudder isnt set right,the president confided.

Rahm Emanuel, then chief of staff,indignantly repeated these criticismsto colleagues. The situation wasgrim: a president whose agenda hadhit the rocks, a first lady who dis-approved of the White Houses direc-tion, and a chief of staff who chafedagainst her influence.

The Michelle Obama of January2012 is an expert motivator andcharmer, a champion of safe causeslike helping military families andending child obesity, an increasing-ly canny political player eager to pourher popularity into her husbandsre-election campaign. To get to thispoint, however, has been a story of

struggle, then turnaround and nowgreater fulfillment.

RELUCTANT

As Obama realised in mid-2008 thatshe would be a first lady, she askedif her family could delay moving tothe White House? Perhaps it wasbetter to remain in Chicago until theend of the school year, giving herchildren time to adjust. She didntunderstand or care what sort of mes-sage it would send to the public.

Even as Michelle Obama dazzledwith her warmth, glamour and hos-pitality early in the presidency, shewas deeply frustrated and insecureabout her place, said aides. AHarvard-trained lawyer, she tried towriggle out of ceremonial events shesaw as purposeless. Inside the WhiteHouse, the difficulty of getting herto agree to doing an event becamea running joke.

The presidential cocoon was alsoa shock. Suddenly she had to thinktwice about taking her daughters to

school or some soccer games. Theirfirst attempt to revisit their housein Chicago was so complicated anti-sniper curtains and militarystewards to provide food that theyseldom returned.

Obama got caught in internaldebates about how the family shouldlook and live, travel and entertain.She wanted everything flawless andsophisticated; as she felt everyonewas waiting for a black woman tomake a mistake, a former aide said.

Her husbands aides worried aboutsending wrong signals at a time ofdeprivation. There was constantgive-and-take between the East andWest Wings about vacations, dcor,entertainment, even small matterslike announcing the hiring of a newflorist.

MESSAGE

From the start Michelle Obama wor-ried the White House was not pre-

senting a clear, compelling story ofthe presidents actions. This reflect-ed a chief executive with little man-agement experience who clung to adisunited inner circle. She sharedthe presidents ambivalence aboutthe schmoozing that helps get thingsdone in Washington.

She told others she wanted a morecentral role in communicating theadministrations message, like sell-ing health care reform in spring

2009. Figure out how to use meeffectively, she said. This is my pri-ority. But West Wing advisers,recalling the resentment of HillaryClintons first lady involvement inhealth care, declined.

She remained harder on her hus-bands team than he was, at one pointurging him to replace them. Tensionsgrew so severe that then press sec-retary Robert Gibbs, thinking shehad unfairly criticised him, erupted

in a meeting in 2010, cursing theabsent first lady. The first ladys teamheld a retreat that winter to discusssuch problems.

She didnt want to be a first ladywho interfered with West Wing busi-ness. It was her husbands adminis-tration, not hers, she said. She knewthe history of first ladies like NancyReagan and Clinton who had beendeemed meddlers, unelected figureswho wielded unearned power.

And yet as the administration ranaground in 2010 the loss ofKennedys seat, an unpopular healthcare law, the Gulf oil spill shebecame more involved.

POPULAR

Ironically, it was her own rising pop-ularity, combined with her husbandseroding support, which was to giveher more leverage in the later part

of the administration. At an OvalOffice meeting in late 2010 the polit-ical team came before the Obamas,laying out arguments, details, sta-tistics about how the first lady couldhelp capture votes. They absorbedpolling data that showed Democraticvoters loved seeing them together.

This is a great presentation, thepresident said with a grin.

Still, the first lady agreed to onlyeight campaign stops, fewer thanthe political team had wanted.

This year, now that her husbandfaces a tough re-election fight, thattentativeness has vanished: Im allin, she tells aides. Though she stillavoids detailed policy or strategydiscussions, she now has the role ofamplifying his message, speakingalongside him at public fora, evensharing his weekly radio address.

In August last year, the first ladygave a party for her husbands 50thbirthday.

As the sun faded, the 150 guestssat on White House lawn, listening

to the first lady describe BarackObama: an upright leader who roseabove Washingtons games, killedthe worlds most wanted terroristand yet coached his daughter Sashasbasketball team. The president, look-ing embarrassed, tried to cut her off,but she told him he had to sit andlisten. She also thanked him for put-ting up with how hard she had beenon him. At that line, a few of theadvisers glanced at each other inrecognition. NYT

It was Michelle Obamas rising popularity, combined with her husbands eroding support, which gave her moreleverage in the Obama administration. FILE PHOTO

The otherObamaIN THE POWER CORRIDOR Michelle Obama found being US first lady difficult early on, buther popularity made her a political force to reckon with, adding to her husbands credentials

FIRST LADYBORN: Michelle LaVaughnRobinson Obama on bornJanuary 17, 1964

EARLY YEARS: She attendedPrinceton University andHarvard Law School beforereturning to Chicago and towork at the law firm SidleyAustin, where she met her futurehusband, Barack Obama

STANDING BY HER MAN: At theDemocratic National Conventionin 2004, moments before herhusband was about to go onstage to give his speech shedecided to break the tension:Just dont screw it up, buddy!she memorably said. BarackObama calls her My rock.

sundayspecial

Lava spews from a crater of the giant Etna Volcano on thesouthern Italian island of Sicily on Saturday. AFP PHOTO