A quarter-century after Canada’s worst terrorist attack killed 329 people, an inquiry commission will make its report into the 1985 Kanishka bombing public this week, outlining recommendations about how to prevent such tragedies in future.
The report by the Public Inquiry Commission on the Air India bombing is expected to be delivered to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and be made public on Thursday.
The report is the product of nearly four years of work by former Supreme Court justice John Major and a staff of lawyers and researchers.
The five volumes will total nearly 4,000 pages of historical narrative, factual findings by Mr Major and recommendations for policy reforms. The Commission of Inquiry was established by Prime Minister Harper on May 1, 2006, to provide a report on the events surrounding the bombing of Air India Flight 182.
All of the 329 people on board the aircraft died when it exploded over the Atlantic Ocean on June 23, 1985. Eighty two of the victims were children and 280 were Canadian citizens.
The flight, from Montreal was headed to Delhi with Mumbai as its final destination. The explosion was orchestrated by supporters of the Khalistan movement.
The trial Sikh separatists accused in the bombing — Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, concluded in 2005 and both were acquitted due to inadequate evidence.
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EU invites Iran for nuke talks
Luxembourg : Officials say EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has invited Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili to talks on his country’s nuclear programme.
A diplomat who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue says Iran is expected to respond positively to the proposal, with the talks being held sometime over the summer.
Ms Ashton wrote to Mr Jalili after the UNSC imposed fresh sanctions on Iran for refusing to negotiate on its suspected nuclear programme. Iran denies Western accusations that it is covertly developing nuclear weapons. EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg are also looking at imposing their own set of sanctions against Tehran. —AP