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India's home minister tenders resignation

MUMBAI, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- India's home minister has resigned in the wake of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, bowing to critics from both before and after the attacks, observers said.

Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday, saying he took "moral responsibility" for the wave of coordinated terrorist assaults that killed at least 183 people in Mumbai last week, CNN reported.

Patil had been under criticism even before the attacks, and his resignation came as questions quickly mounted about the country's readiness to prevent terrorism. Critics cited a report to Parliament last year that blasted inadequate protection of India's shores -- which is how the attackers sneaked into Mumbai, The New York Times said.

"This man has been widely criticized for not being up to it and it was simply impossible that he could stay on after this," N. Ram, editor-in-chief of The Hindu newspaper, told CNN, quoting Patil's critics saying "(he hadn't) delivered in the promise to improve intelligence."

Patil's resignation could be an early indicator of electoral trouble ahead for Singh's government, the Times said, adding Indian media was focusing on Finance Minister P. Chidambaram as the next home minister.

U.S. opposes India military response

WASHINGTON, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- The United States wants to dissuade India from military responses to the Mumbai terrorist attacks and instead work with Pakistan on extremism, sources say.

Domestic pressure is being heaped on Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to strike back at Islamic militant networks based in the disputed Kashmir region, which many Indians believe are responsible for last week's coordinated terror assaults that killed at least 183 people.

But members of the Bush administration and U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's transition team are urging him to temper any military moves in Kashmir and instead work with a new, pro-Western Pakistani president, Asif Ali Zardari, to make a breakthrough between the bitter rivals on the need to control extremism, analysts told the newspaper.

The Times said experts both inside and outside of government don't believe Singh will automatically turn to a military response if it is determined that Kashmiri militants were behind the attacks.

They cite Singh's contention that a military conflict with Pakistan would slow his country's unprecedented economic expansion and that he sees Zardari as a positive departure from his predecessor, President Pervez Musharraf.

Obama to introduce Clinton as State choice

CHICAGO, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- U.S. President-elect Barack Obama will soon officially unveil Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., as his nominee for Secretary of State, sources said Sunday.

Unnamed Democrat Party sources told CNN that Obama will introduce Clinton, as well as Robert Gates as defense secretary -- keeping his current job -- and retired Marine Gen. Jim Jones as national security adviser during a news conference Monday in Chicago.

The selection of Clinton for the country's top diplomatic post came only after her husband, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, agreed to reveal the names of more than 200,000 donors to his private charitable foundation, The New York Times reported Sunday.

Citing unnamed sources, the Times said Bill Clinton had been reluctant to reveal the contributors to his foundation, but ultimately agreed to do so to assure Obama officials there would be no conflicts of interest between his private fundraising and Hillary Clinton's diplomatic duties.

The newspaper said Bill Clinton also agreed to incorporate his Clinton Global Initiative separately from his foundation so that he has less direct involvement.

Russian military denies resignations

MOSCOW, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- The Russian Defense Ministry called reports that top officers have resigned to protest proposed reforms "brazen lies."

Col. Alexander Drobyshevsky, a spokesman for the ministry, also responded to reports of a crackdown on information about the proposed changes in the military by Gen. Nikolai Makarov, the chief of staff.

"A number of deputy defense ministers are now on missions to the military districts to explain these issues to the servicemen," he said.

Previously this month, Makarov reported "the creation of a new look for the army" to the Duma, Kommersant reported. The plan included cutting the number of regular and reserve officers by 160,000.

News media in Moscow have reported the resignation of Gen. Vladimir Isakov, deputy defense minister and chief of the logistics service, and Gen. Vladimir Isakov, who heads the General Staff's main investigation department.

"These reports are brazen lies," Drobyshevsky said.