PM-Sharif meeting doomed: Khokhar
WASHINGTON, Aug 13 — The forthcoming bilateral meetings between Prime Ministers A.B. Vajpayee and Nawaz Sharif are bound to fail just like their Colombo round which was a “fiasco”, Pakistan’s ambassador Riaz Khokhar, said here yesterday.

China evades India’s offer
BEIJING, Aug 13 — China, a nuclear weapons state, has evaded a direct response to India’s offer to a ‘no first use’ pact on the use of nuclear weapons and urged New Delhi to renounce its nuclear weapons development programme.

Suu Kyi’s stand-off enters second day
YANGON, Aug 13 —The Myanmar opposition leader, Mr Aung San Suu Kyi, today began the second day of a new roadside stand-off with military officials, foreign diplomats said.
Five detained for questioning
NAIROBI, Aug 13 — The Kenyan police has detained five persons in connection with last week’s bombing of the us Embassy in Nairobi, the police today said.
Race on for next Pak Army chief
LONDON, Aug 13 — Intense lobbying is reported among top Pakistan army brass to succeed the Army chief, Gen Jehangir Karamat, who retires in January next year, with influential politicians joining the battle.
UN for ceasefire in Kosovo
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 13 — In a bid to end violence in Kosovo, the Security Council has called for immediate ceasefire to create conditions for a “meaningful dialogue” between Kosovar Albanian leadership and Yugoslavia.

PM-Sharif meeting doomed: Khokhar

WASHINGTON, Aug 13 (PTI) — The forthcoming bilateral meetings between Prime Ministers A.B. Vajpayee and Nawaz Sharif are bound to fail just like their Colombo round which was a “fiasco”, Pakistan’s ambassador Riaz Khokhar, said here yesterday. (The two leaders due to meet during the non-aligned meeting in Durban and again, perhaps, during the UN General Assembly meeting in New York.)

Pakistan’s envoy to the USA claimed that India has never been interested in the success of bilateral meetings and that any significant agreement between India and Pakistan such as the Indus Water Treaty had been possible only through third party mediation.

The ambassador complained that the USA and its allies were focusing on the comprehensive test ban treaty and observing “double standard” when it came to Kashmir.

He also insisted that former Prime Minister I.K. Gujral had gone back on his agreement to treat Kashmir as the core issue and that Prime Minister Narasimha Rao used the excuse of having to consult the opposition for failing to reach an agreement at his summit with the then Pakistani premier.

Mr Khokhar was speaking at a seminar organised by the Pakistan-American League and the University of Pennsylvania in a format that heavily favoured the Pakistani point of view.

When Mr Sujit Datta, one of the speakers, said that the UN resolution for plebiscite by which the Pakistani ambassador swore could not be implemented because Islamabad refused to vacate its aggression when it was supposed to do so, one of the Pakistanis denounced him.

When one of the speakers, Prof Mustapha Kamal Pasha, insisted that the Simla Agreement was not valid because it was an “unequal treaty”, as it was negotiated when Pakistan had been defeated in war and had to secure the release of its prisoners of war, an Indian correspondent asked whether by that argument, the agreement with Iraq negotiated after the Gulf war would be invalid too because they were unequal treaties. Prof Pasha replied that the two cases could not be compared because Iraq was the aggressor while in the case of the Simla Agreement, “India was the aggressor”.

Dr Shambu Banik, who heads an association seeking to bring Asians and Americans together, suggested that India, Pakistan and Bangladesh should unite once again and then there would be no Kashmir problem, but Mr Khokhar said this was impractical. They could, however, put together a “good cricket team”.

China evades India’s offer

BEIJING, Aug 13 (PTI) — China, a nuclear weapons state, has evaded a direct response to India’s offer to a ‘no first use’ pact on the use of nuclear weapons and urged New Delhi to renounce its nuclear weapons development programme.

Commenting on India’s recent offer to China and four other nuclear weapon states, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Tan Gouging said India must first renounce its nuclear weapons development programme and sign unconditionally the global non-proliferation treaties.

“The most urgent task at present for India is to implement UN Security Council resolution, abandon nuclear development programme and accede to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) and Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) unconditionally as soon as possible,’’ Mr Tang said here.

His comments came in response to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s statement in Parliament on August 4 that India was willing to sign a no first use pact with the nuclear powers.

Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan had taken a tough stand on the nuclear issue during his July 27 meeting with the Prime Minister’s special emissary Jaswant Singh in Manila.

Analysts say China adopted the tough stand following India’s unnamed reference to ‘China threat’ while elaborating its security perception after the Pokhran tests in May.

US rocket explodes

CAPE CANAVERAL, Aug 13 (Reuters) — A US Air Force Titan 4A rocket exploded shortly just after blast-off from Cape Canaveral on Wednesday, according to the Air Force. The rocket, which blasted off at 1130 GMT, was carrying a satellite for the US National Reconnaissance Office.

Space analysts believe the rocket was carrying an eavesdropping satellite that would have listened in on military and government communications in global hotspots such as the Middle East, India, Pakistan and China.

Suu Kyi’s stand-off enters second day

YANGON, Aug 13 (AFP) —The Myanmar opposition leader, Mr Aung San Suu Kyi, today began the second day of a new roadside stand-off with military officials, foreign diplomats said.

“As far as we know she is still there, and it is just like last time,” a western embassy official said, referring to a six-day stand-off which ended when the Nobel Peace Laureate was forcibly taken back to her home on July 29. She was in almost exactly the same position after again being blocked by officials when she attempted to travel yesterday, the diplomats said, adding that though in the latest incident she was in a mini-van rather than a sedan and had brought extra supplies.

The country’s junta said that Ms Suu Kyi was “like an animal with the long tail”, suggesting she was a monkey being forced to perform by foreign masters.

Without directly identifying the Nobel Peace Laureate, a commentary in the official new light of Myanmar daily said she was unable to back down or make concessions in dealing with the junta “or else those from outside will describe or criticise her that she has deviated from the original course or softened her stance.”

The National League for Democracy (NLD) leader, has demanded that the junta convene parliament by August 21 or face unspecified consequences.

Meanwhile, 18 foreign activists began their fifth day in detention here today for allegedly attempting to incite unrest by distributing leaflets promoting democracy and human rights, diplomats said.

There was no indication what action the country’s junta intended to take against the activists, who were detained in the Myanmar capital on Sunday, they added.

Among the detainees were six US nationals, three Thais, three Malaysians, three Indonesians, two Filipinos and one Australian.

Five detained for questioning

NAIROBI, Aug 13 (Reuters) — The Kenyan police has detained five persons in connection with last week’s bombing of the us Embassy in Nairobi, the police today said.

“We have detained five persons”, Mr Peter Mbuvi of Kenya’s Criminal Investigation Department told a joint news conference with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Ms Sheila Horan, head of the FBI’s operations in Kenya, said the investigators also believed they had identified parts of the vehicle used to carry the bomb.

“We have been successful in identifying certain parts of the delivery vehicle,” she said.

At least 247 persons were killed and over 5,000 injured in Friday’s car bomb attack on the US Embassy.

LONDON (PTI): US, British and Israeli intelligence had received some information two months ago that Islamic terrorists based in Pakistan and Afghanistan were planning an attack in Kenya, according to media reports here.

Telegraph said that warning was initially picked up by Israeli agents in Nairobi that terrorists based in Pakistan and Afghanistan would carry out the attacks.

Following this, “flights from Pakistan were listed for extra surveillance for the movement of any known Islamic radicals” the reports said, adding it was not clear whether these warnings were passed on to Kenyan and Tanzanian authorities.

Initial investigations by US and British MI-6 intelligence pointed to international Islamic terror groups like the one run by Saudi billionaire Osama Bin Laden and Harkat ul Ansar, who are running camps both in Afghanistan and Pakistan and groups of Arab terrorists based in the two countries, media reports said.

Harkat ul Ansar, responsible for the abduction of five foreign hostages in Kashmir, including two Britons, has been branded as terrorist organisation and banned by US State Department.

However, the British authorities have not yet taken any action against the group, whose anti-West literature is freely distributed in London.

Reports quoting Kenyan officials said here that security personnel at the US embassy in Nairobi had confronted the five armed bombers immediately before the blast last Friday.

Joash Okinda, a guard at the Nairobi US embassy who was wounded in the blast, was reported to have said that he and his colleagues engaged five “Arab looking men” in arguments shortly before the explosion.

He said the attackers were disguised in uniforms identical to those worn by Kenyan security guards posted outside the embassy. “When an embassy guard refused to allow their yellow light truck through the rear gate, a swarthy looking man holding two way radio in his right hand and apparently the leader of the bombers team leapt from the vehicle to open fire at approaching marines,” Okinda said.

The Kenyan guard said the attackers opened fire with automatic weapons and one threw a hand grenade and the marines and returned the fire.

Reports said that his would suggest a suicide bombing by all five men. Okinda, the wounded Kenyan guard has been flown by special FBI agents to the USA for treatment and his condition is stated to be critical.

Meanwhile, other reports said the CIA, embarrassed by its failure to identify the vulnerability of USA’s East African embassies, has claimed that it thwarted five other recent such plots.

WASHINGTON:The remains of 10 of the 12 Americans killed in the US Embassy bombing in Kenya are due to be received here by President Bill Clinton, who has called for stepped-up security at US missions worldwide.

Race on for next Pak Army chief

LONDON, Aug 13 (PTI) — Intense lobbying is reported among top Pakistan army brass to succeed the Army chief, Gen Jehangir Karamat, who retires in January next year, with influential politicians joining the battle.

Pakistani media reports here said intense lobbying was being carried out by influential politicians to get their own horses backed for the coveted post, labelled as the ‘most powerful man in Pakistan’, keeping in view a brewing intense political power struggle in the country.

The lobbying, Pakistani media reports said, had been set off by recent comment of the Prime Minister, Mr Nawaz Sharif, to announce the new incumbent 90 days before General Karamat’s retirement.

The reports said the five top brass in the hunt were Lt-Gen Ali Kuli Khan, Chief of General Staff, who comes from the infantry, Quarter Master-General (QMG) Lt-Gen Khalid Nawaz (infantry), Corps Commander Mangla Lt-Gen Pervez Mushraf (Artillery), Adjutant General (AG) Lt-Gen Ziauddin (engineers) and Corps Commander Multan, Lt-Gen Salauhdin Timrezi (armoured).

Gen Ali Kuli Khan, the senior-most general, who is reported to be favoured by present army chief, General Karamat and his predecessor, Gen Abdul Waheed Kakkar, is a Pushtun and a close relation of volatile former Foreign Minister, Gohar Ayub Khan. This equation, media reports said, could be his greatest disqualification.

Media reports said after General Karamat, Kuli Khan’s greatest supporter for the army chief’s saddle was Gohar Ayub Khan. “But as Gohar himself is not in the good books of Sharif, there is a big question mark whether the Prime Minister would let Gen Kuli Khan become COAS.”

Reports said that Gen Kuli Khan and Gohar Ayub Khan had chalked out the Taliban offensive operations in Afghanistan to take political and military credit for it in succession battles. Reports said it was no great secret that Gohar Ayub Khan had ambitions to become Prime Minister and for this purpose had been flaunting the backing of some powerful elements within the army, including the ISI.

Gohar Ayub, media reports said, lacked any major backing inside the ruling Pakistan Muslim League. “Though attempts had been made to dislodge Sharif from leadership of the PML within the party in the face of recent economic crises triggered by western sanctions in the aftermath of nuclear tests, these had failed to gain any momentum as army had remained neutral.”

But there are other politicians like former President Farooq Leghari and others who are also backing their own dark horses for succession to the army chief’s post.

UN for ceasefire in Kosovo

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 13 (PTI) — In a bid to end violence in Kosovo, the Security Council has called for immediate ceasefire to create conditions for a “meaningful dialogue” between Kosovar Albanian leadership and Yugoslavia.

The 15-member council’s reaction came after considering a report by Secretary-General Kofi Annan in which he said international agencies had failed to make good on promises of monitoring arms embargo on Kosovo.

Britain, France and Slovenia pressurised the council to announce some action against Yugoslavia but Russia and China are resisting such an action.

Addressing media after the council’s closed-door meeting, President Ambassador Danilo Turk of Slovenia said the members urged both parties to start negotiations as soon as possible.

The issue of Kosovo has no military solution and all violence and acts of terrorism from any quarter are unacceptable, he said.

Settlement reached
NEW YORK: Jewish groups, Swiss banks and lawyers for holocaust survivors reached a $ 1.2 billion settlement over claims to assets lost during World War II. The money will be paid out over four years for the life of all claims including dormant account claims against two commercial banks plus the Swiss National Bank, other Swiss banks, the Swiss Government and Swiss industry, according to Marc Cohen, a lawyer for the banks. — AP

US balloonist
ST LOUIS (Missouri): US balloonist Steve Fossett has lowered his altitude over the Indian Ocean to avoid a high-pressure zone that could spell the end of his ‘round-the-globe’ attempt in a helium and hot-air craft, according to flight officials. At 4 a.m. IST on Thursday “Solo Spirit” was 60 degrees 50.57’ east, 34 degrees 03.40’ south over the ocean and travelling at a speed of 93 km per hour, mission control in St Louis said. Fossett was expected to be just north of Amsterdam island by about 8.30 a.m. IST on Thursday and was expected to reach Australia in a few days. — DPA

Hopkins pledges £ 1 m
LONDON: Sir Anthony Hopkins, who won an Oscar for his performance as Hannibal Lecter in the psychological thriller “Silence of the Lambs”, pledged £ 1 million on Wednesday to help preserve Wales’ tallest mountain, Snowdon. The Welsh-born actor promised the money to one of Britain’s main conservation bodies, The National Trust, which plans to raise more than £ 3 million to buy two estates on the mountain. — Reuters

Extremist executed
ISLAMABAD: A Shia extremist has been executed for his involvement in the 1997 bombing of the Lahore High Court building in which a number of persons, including a Sunni Extremist leader, were killed. An anti-terrorism court held Muharam Ali guilty of the bombing and sentenced him to death last year. Ali then approached the Supreme Court in vain and his mercy appeal to the President was also turned down. — UNI

Lennon’s signature
NEW YORK: John Lennon’s last signature, written on an album before he was shot and killed in 1980, was put on sale for $ 1.8 million, according to a report. Lennon penned the signature on the album presented by Mark David Chapman, who then ambushed the Beatles lead man in front of his apartment building in New York city and shot him dead on December 8, 1980. The album was picked up by an unidentified man minutes after the shooting at the Dakota building and kept in a vault for years. — DPA

Russian debt
MOSCOW: Russia’s broke government will dip into IMF money already transferred to the country’s Central Bank to help service its mounting debt, Finance Minister Mikhail Zadornov said on Wednesday. Mr Zadornov said $ 1 billion of the $ 4.8 billion tranche, previously earmarked specially to defend the ruble, would now be siphoned off to help the government out of its debt predicament. “We have agreed the transfer of $ 1 billion from the first tranche of the IMF”. Mr Zadornov said. — AFP

Cameras withheld
TOKYO: Electronics giant Sony Corp said on Wednesday that it had halted shipments of some video cameras after finding they could be used for filming more of their subjects than meets the eye. Some versions of the handycam have infrared technology which lets users shoot at night or in darkness in a “nightshot” mode. Reports said when the special feature is used in daylight or lighted room with a special filter it can “see through” clothing. — Reuters