Tuesday, September 1, 1998
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W O R L D | Tuesday, September 1, 1998 |
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Islamisation Bill may fail ISLAMABAD, Aug 31 — The Jamhoori Watan Party has decided to pull out of the alliance with the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, jeopardising passage of the controversial Islamic Bill in the Upper House of Parliament. The JWP is the fourth party to announce the snapping of ties with the PML. Duma rejects Chernomyrdin |
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Iraq can “rearm in 6
months” WASHINGTON, Aug 31 — Iraq could start rebuilding its arsenal of chemical weapons in six months if arms inspections are halted , a former top weapons inspector for the UN warned. N-Korea
fires missile Sheikh
Hasina appeals for relief Taliban
Mullah wants Clinton stoned to death Clinton
“regrets explanation” Al
Gore may face probe |
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Islamisation Bill may fail ISLAMABAD, Aug 31 (UNI) — The Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) has decided to pull out of the alliance with the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML), jeopardising passage of the controversial Islamic Bill in the Upper House of Parliament. The JWP is the fourth party to announce the snapping of ties with the PML. The other three, the Mohajir Quami Movement (Altaf Hussain), the Awami National Party and the Baluchistan National Party, have broken off relations with the ruling alliance in the past few days. Nawab Akbar Bugti, chief of the JWP announced at a Press conference yesterday in Quetta that he was withdrawing support because Mr Nawaz Sharif, the PML chief and the Prime Minister, had “ignored” his alliance partners in important national matters and was trying to save “his sinking ship by introducing the Constitutional Amendment Bill”. He said the Sharif government had given in to US pressure and had agreed to sign the comprehensive test ban treaty (CTBT). The US government would grant $3billion to Pakistan in lieu of signing the treaty, he claimed. “He (Nawaz Sharif) frequented Dera Bugti (where Bugti stays in Baluchistan) when out of power, but once in power, he would not show his face,” Nawab Bugti said. With the Baluchistan-based JWP out of the alliance, the PML now does not have even a simple majority in Senate, the Upper House. The JWP has five members in the Senate and two in the National Assembly, the Lower House. Mr Bugti, who is considered to be a powerful figure in Baluchistan, was accompanied by a number of Senators and members of the state Assembly including its Speaker Mir Abdul Jabbar at the Press conference. He spewed fire on Mr Sharif for trying to exploit the sacred name of Islam for his political ends by moving the Amendment Bill. “We have always been cheated by our friends and colleagues and those whom we trusted,” he said. The BNP, despite alliances with the PML at the federal and provincial levels, was dislodged by the league from power last month. Mr Sharif’s party has two-thirds majority in the National Assembly but had to bank on the support of the ANP, the MQM, the BNP and the JWP to get through the 13th and 14th Constitutional Amendment Bills in the Senate last year. Observers are doubtful whether the PML would be able to get the Shariah Bill passed by the Senate with its partners gone. The Pakistan People’s
Party will hold countrywide demonstrations next week
against the Sharif Government’s move to amend the
Constitution to make Koran and Sunnah the supreme laws of
the land. |
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Duma rejects Chernomyrdin MOSCOW, Aug 31 (PTI) — Russian President Boris Yeltsin’s candidate Viktor Chernomyrdin today lost the Duma vote for confirmation as the Prime Minister. Mr Chernomyrdin, who was appointed caretaker premier after Sergei Kiriyenko’s cabinet was dismissed by Mr Yeltsin on August 23, polled just 94 votes in his favour in the 450-member opposition-majority lower house. Earlier, top Kremlin official Mikhail Komissar had announced Mr Yeltsin would send an official nomination to the Duma immediately after the vote if Mr Chernomyrdin lost it. The opposition majority in the Duma also demanded the ouster of Boris Yeltsin and rejected Viktor Chernomyridn for the Russian premier’s post even as the President asserted he would re-nominate his candidate if the lower house vote goes against him. Mr Yeltsin will send an official nomination to the Duma immediately after the vote if Mr Chernomyrdin loses it, top Kremlin official Mikhail Komissar told reporters. The Duma, which will hold a secret ballot on the issue, saw Communist party leader Gennady Zyuganov, liberal Yabloko bloc chief Grigory Yavlinsky and ultra-nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky of the LDPR demanding the ouster of Yeltsin. The Kremlin has not ruled out a negative vote on the candidacy of Mr Chernomyrdin, which looked certain with most opposition leaders announcing they would veto his nomination. The Communists have declared their readiness to face early polls if the Kremlin goes for the repetition of the April scenario when the Duma, under the threat of dissolution, had to vote for now-ousted Premier Sergeir Kiriyenko in a third vote. Speaking before the house,
acting Premier Chernomyrdin said the country was on the
verge of economic and political collapse, and urged the
deputies to confirm his appointment so that the
government could get down to the work of salvaging the
economy without any delay. |
Iraq can “rearm in 6 months” WASHINGTON, Aug 31 (Reuters) — Iraq could start rebuilding its arsenal of chemical weapons in six months if arms inspections are halted , a former top weapons inspector for the UN warned. Mr Scott Ritter, who resigned last week to protest against limits on weapons inspections, said Iraq was prepared to resume building prohibited weapons quickly if inspections ceased. “Six months is a very reasonable time scale for Iraq to resume weapons capabilities”, Mr Ritter said yesterday on the ABC programme “This Week”. Mr Ritter also reiterated his charges that top US and UN officials pressurised the UN Special Commission, which conducted inspections in Iraq, to curb planned surprise inspections over the past year. Mr Ritter said in July and again in August he and a team of inspectors were prepared to conduct visits to Iraqi facilities but political pressure stymied both attempts. US Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright and National Security Adviser Sandy
Berger intervened to block the August inspection, Mr
Ritter said. |
N-Korea fires missile TOKYO, Aug 31 (AFP) — North Korea fired a ballistic missile into international waters in the Sea of Japan today, officials said, triggering deep concern in Tokyo and Washington. US forces alerted Japan that the missile was launched from North Korea’s eastern coast, landing at 0742 IST in the sea about 300 km southeast of Vladivostok, Russia, they said. The US and Japan were scrambling for further information about the test, the first in five years. The firing coincided with Pyongyang’s official media rejecting closer ties with its rival South Korea and came hours ahead of the expected resumption of high-level New York talks with US officials. It also comes in the run-up to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il’s assumption of the presidency. South Korea’s Defence Ministry said the missile was Taepo-Dong 1 which, with an estimated range of 1,500-2,000 km can hit any part of the Japanese islands. “I can confirm it did take place,” Pentagon spokesman Jim Kout said in Washington. “The department of Defence views it as a serious development and we’re evaluating the situation,” he said. He had no information on the type of missile or the intended target. Earlier in the day North Korea officially rejected South Korean President Kim Dar-Jung’s reconciliatory offer of boosted dialogue, dismissing the peace overture as “fantastic, contradictory and deceptive” a report from Seoul said. Pyongyang’s mouthpiece indicated that such an olive branch would be deemed deceptive and unacceptable as long as Washington kept its 37,000 troop force in rival South Korea. The rejection of Kim’s landmark proposal came two weeks after the President offered to send an envoy to Pyongyang and to set up the first permanent inter-Korean talks mechanism. The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), in a report monitored here, also poured scorn on foreign claims that Kim’s proposal would “contribute to peace and security on the Korean Peninsula.” “This is an act of
casting a sheep’s eyes at the South Korean
authorities,” the agency said of the overseas
response to Kim’s comments made to mark Korea’s
Liberation from Japanese colonial rule. |
Sheikh Hasina appeals for relief DHAKA, Aug 31 (PTI)— Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has appealed for cooperation from its development partners for an emergency relief for millions of people affected by country’s “unprecedented” floods as also for post-floods rehabilitation and reconstruction. “We are appealing for help and cooperation from our development partner countries and international agencies, NGOs, expatriate Bengalis and all irrespective of parties and opinions....” she said yesterday in a nationwide address over radio and television. Sheikh Hasina, whose Awami League government is facing threats of anti-government stirs from Bangladesh Nationalist Party of Begum Khaleda Zia over different issues after the flood water recedes, urged all to shun differences and stand united by the distressed flood victims to help them tide over the calamity. Appealing people to face the situation with patience and fortitude, the Prime Minister said, “Let’s work together burying all our differences to face the present calamity”. She pointed out that compared to previous floods, the current deluge has assumed a great severity in terms of its duration, depth and coverage, engulfing nearly half of the country due to number of natural factors. The entire state machinery and the administration at all levels had been asked to remain alert and work hard to meet the emergency situation, she said. “There is a stock of seven lakh tonnes of rice in godowns and the government has, meanwhile, taken steps for importing additional six lakh tonnes of foodgrains to meet any deficits”, the Bangladesh premier said. She assured the people that as soon as flood water started receding, the government would embark on a massive rehabilitation programmes. Sheikh Hasina said cash
capital had been earmarked to help critically affected
farmers, urging agricultural extension workers for
measures to protect seedbeds and prepare new ones. |
Taliban Mullah wants Clinton stoned to death ISLAMABAD, Aug 31 (AP) — The reclusive leader of Afghanistan’s Taliban army, Mullah Mohammed Omar, was quoted as saying that the US President, Mr Bill Clinton, should be stoned to death for his indiscretions involving women other than his wife. This was according to a weekly newspaper published by the militant Islamic group, Harkat-ul-Ansar. The US Administration last year declared this group a terrorist organisation. Ruling out the possibility
of holding negotiations with Mr Clinton, Mullah Omar was
quoted as saying, “It is absolutely not possible to
negotiate with such a person and he should be removed
(from power) and stoned to death. He is of bad
character.” |
Clinton “regrets explanation” WASHINGTON, Aug 31 (AP) — A Democratic Congressman who spent time with US President Bill Clinton on his vacation has said that the President regretted the way he explained his relationship with Ms Monica Lewinsky to the American people and wished he’d had more time to reflect before making his nationally televised speech. Congressman Jim McGovern, who joined Mr Clinton at political rallies in Massachusetts last week, said yesterday that he and Sen. John Kerry urged the President to come forth with more about his relationship with Ms Lewinsky. Mr Clinton’s August 17 speech to the nation was criticised by lawmakers of both parties. “The President
admitted to us that the timing of his speech was probably
not the best and that he wished he had more time to
reflect and get his emotions together before he addressed
the American people,” Mr McGovern said on NBC
Television. |
Al Gore may face probe WASHINGTON, Aug 31 (PTI) — After US President Bill Clinton, Vice-President Al Gore might face investigations in a fund-raising scandal. Attorney-General Janet Reno has to decide within the next 90 days to probe a specific issue whether Mr Gore lied in the case pertaining to the fund-raising campaign in which he was seeking money for the Democratic Party by using White Houe telephones, The Washington Post reported. Memos have turned up lately which indicated that Mr Gore could have known part of the “soft” money he was raising for the party was being diverted to fund the Clinton-Gore campaign. Such use would make it “hard money,” which a 19th century law forbids being raised on government property.“ Now Gore’s legal problems may be much more serious,” the paper said quoting officials familiar with the case. “Now the issue is
whether he intentionally made a false statement to
federal investigators, a matter that legal experts say is
a potentially straight forward felony,” it said. |
| Global monitor Yeltsin dementia report
‘false’ Serial rapist held Islamist terrorism ‘Titanic’
mania Award for Castro 91 killed in Nepal Sony Music chief Longest car convoy Of cotton &
fire |
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