the Indian government says it's to open a fresh inquiry into riots which followed the assassination of Indira Ghandi in 1984.

The decision follows accusations that a previous investigation, ordered by the opposition Congress party, was unsatisfactory.

India's Parliamentary Affairs minister, Pramod Mahajan, dismissed suggestions that the new probe was a political vendetta.

He said the fact that most of those charged after the last inquiry were not convicted raised questions.

Nearly three thousand Sikhs were killed in the rioting which followed Mrs Ghandi's assassination. At the time, many Sikh groups accused ministers from the Congress Party Congress of inciting violence against them.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service