Sania and Shoaib's families begin wedding preparations

   

With the controversy over Shoaib Malik's past put to rest, both the families of the Pakistani cricketer and Indian tennis star Sania Mirza have started preparing for the April 15 marriage.

Seven of Shoaib's family members, including his mother, arrived at the Hyderabad airport for the high-profile, cross-border wedding.

Sania's mother and others welcomed the visitors from Pakistan with flowers.

The residence of the Mirzas in posh Film Nagar here was abuzz with activities.

Relatives and friends of the Mirzas have sent sweets and flowers to wish the family on the occasion of the wedding.

Shoaib's family members are also taking part in the preparations.

Sania's father Imran Mirza also got down to the task of preparing for the much awaited wedding. Shoaib's brother-in-law Imran Malik and the cricketer's younger brother were seen going out with Imran.

The Mirzas have started distributing invitations for the wedding and the reception scheduled to be held at the Taj Krishna hotel here.

The controversy over the marriage of Shoaib to local girl Ayesha Siddiqui came to an end yesterday after a compromise formula being worked out.

Malik formally divorced Ayesha following which she withdrew the police complaint filed against him.

India to seek Headley's extradition

Determined to seek the extradition of Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley and access to him, India will raise the issue with US at the official-level during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's four-day visit here.

National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon, who is accompanying the Prime Minister, will raise the issue during his meeting with his counterpart Gen (Retd) James Jones.

"We will keep pushing...This will be one of the issues...we will use every occasion to seek access (to David Headley)," sources said.

New Delhi's preference is extradition of the LeT operative as the crime was committed in India, they said.

However, if it takes some time then India would like to have direct access to him through legal process so that it (the information provided by Headley) is admissible in courts in India, the sources said.

It was not certain whether Singh will raise the issue during his meeting with President Barack Obama at the Blair House here on Sunday.

Singh is here to attend the two-day Nuclear Summit beginning Monday.

India wants to interrogate David Coleman Headley, who has confessed to plotting the Mumbai carnage, to unravel the entire conspiracy.

Headley had last month pleaded guilty to all terror charges before a US court on March 18.

49-year-old Headley, who faces six counts of conspiracy involving bombing public places in India, murdering and maiming persons in India and providing material support to foreign terrorist plots and LeT; and six counts of aiding and abetting the murder of US citizens in India, could have been sentenced to death if convicted.

After pleading guilty, he will now get a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.