tribuneindia...Spotlight

			Saturday, November 14, 1998
weather today's calendar

Canada backs air strikes
SINGAPORE, Nov 13 (AFP) — Visiting Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien today said he would back an air strike on Iraq but hoped that a diplomatic settlement could still be reached. "Yes, if a decision were to be made, I would," he told mediapersons when asked if he would back such a strike as US forces built up their presence in the Gulf following an impasse over weapons inspections in Iraq. Mr Chretien was speaking after talks with Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong here.
Pak to sign CTBT, NPT
MOSCOW, Nov 13 (UNI) — Pakistan Foreign Minister Sartar Aziz has said Islamabad will sign the CTBT and NPT unconditionally. In an interview to Moscow daily Nezavsimaya Gazeta yesterday, he said since Pakistan had already carried out its nuclear tests and restored balance with India, there was no need for it to any longer refrain from joining the nations which had signed the two international covenants. The statement coincided with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's forthcoming meeting with US President Bill Clinton in Washington in December.

7 LTTE rebels killed
COLOMBO, Nov 13 (PTI) — Seven LTTE rebels and a civilian were killed and eight injured in separate incidents of violence in northern Sri Lanka as rebels renewed fighting with the defence forces, Army sources said today. Seven LTTE guerrillas were killed and six injured in heavy fighting near northern Mankulam, Paranthan and Kilinochchi areas yesterday, a defence press note said. A bomb explosion rocked the PLOTE office in North Vavaniya, but no one was injured.
Russian envoy freed
MOSCOW, Nov 13 (Reuters) — Russian Interior Ministry forces freed President Boris Yeltsin's special envoy to the rebel region of Chechnya today, more than six months after he was seized by unidentified kidnappers, the Kremlin said. Government officials said no ransom was paid for the envoy, Mr Valentin Vlasov, who flew back to Moscow this morning within hours of his release. Interfax quoted law enforcement sources as saying Mr Vlasov was freed at 0300 hours (0530 hours IST) "on the border of one of Russia's North Caucasus republics".
Moscow Declaration
MOSCOW, Nov 13 (AFP) — Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Japanese Premier Keizo Obuchi today signed a document calling for a formal peace treaty between their countries by 2000, news agencies reported. The document, which also defines future relations between the two countries, is to be called the Moscow Declaration. The two leaders signed the text separately. The text, fine-tuned by the two leaders at yesterday's summit, summarises five years of delicate diplomacy in which both sides have striven to find a breakthrough on the thorny dispute over Russia's Kuril Islands which are claimed by Japan.
Clinton's boat trip
TOKYO, Nov 13 (AFP) — President Bill Clinton will cram in a summit a boat trip with Japan's Premier and a televised question-and-answer session with the public on a two-day visit here next week, officials said today. The President is scheduled to arrive in Tokyo from Kuala Lumpur after attending a leaders' summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, the government officials said.
Fodder scam
PATNA, Nov 13 (PTI) — A special CBI court today issued non-bailable arrest warrants against three senior IAS officers besides a retired IAS officer and a top Income Tax Department official in connection with the fodder scam. Ordering issuance of the arrest warrants, the designated CBI Judge, Mr S. K. Lal, instructed the state’s Director-General of Police to execute the warrants issued at the request of the CBI probing the multi-crore rupee swindle. The court also issued arrest warrants against suspended BJP MLA and former chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of the state assembly Dhruv Bhagat.
100 injured in clash
HARDWAR, Nov 13 (PTI) — At least 100 persons were injured, several of them seriously, in a clash between people of two villages over the dowry death of a woman at Garonwali under Pathri police station, the police said here today. Many residents of Sarai village were attacked when they went to Garonwali on learning of the death of a woman from their village who had recently married a man there. Police reinforcements were rushed to the area to restore peace.
AAI official