• 36 boxes to seal
  Clinton's fate
  

Italy ready to mediate
CAIRO, Sept 10 — Italy has said it is ready to mediate between Libya, the USA and Britain to help bring the two Libyan suspects in the Lockerbie bombing incident to trial.
Sanctions on Iraq extended
UNITED NATIONS, Sept 10 — The UN Security Council has decided to extend eight-year-old sanctions on Iraq indefinitely to punish Baghdad for suspending cooperation with UN arms inspectors.
Bid to curb child sex on Internet
COLOMBO, Sept 10 — Pornography on the Internet hinders efforts by rights groups to corner child sex criminals even with tightened worldwide laws against the abuse of youngsters.

Starr submits report to Congress

WASHINGTON, Sept 10 (AP) — Independent counsel Kenneth Starr sent Congress 36 sealed boxes filled with substantial and credible" evidence of wrongdoing by President Bill Clinton yesterday, triggering the first formal impeachment review in the USA since Watergate a quarter-century ago. The report has 500 pages.

House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Democratic leader Dick Gephardt pledged before Mr Starr acted that they would make a bipartisan effort to review the politically explosive report, delivered in the shadow of the mid-term elections. The two men then met into the evening to thrash out plans to make much of the material public within a few days, and govern Congress’ subsequent review.

Mr Clinton, facing the gravest situation in a career of political crises, asked the nation for forgiveness in a speech in Florida. I let you down. I let my family down. I let this country down. But I’m trying to make it right," said the President. He did not utter the name of Monica Lewinsky, a former White House intern with whom he had and hid a sexual relationship.

It was Mr Clinton’s second apology of the day, the first coming in a private, emotional meeting with house Democrats before he left Washington for Florida.

Not everyone was moved. One lawmaker told the President bluntly he had surrendered the trust of the American people, temporarily at least, while a second demanded an assurance that Mr Starr’s report wouldn’t disclose any new, damaging information. Mr Clinton nodded, saying nothing.

Shortly after Mr Clinton spoke in Orlando, Mr Starr dispatched aides to Capitol Hill where house sergeant-at-arms Wilson Livingood took custody of the fruits of the grand jury investigation in an unprecedented scene on the Capitol plaza.

A crowd of tourists, house aides, reporters and a few lawmakers watched in brilliant sunshine as Livingood and his staff accounted for each box by turn, transferred them from Mr Starr’s vans to their own, and drove away to a secured room in an office building a few blocks away.

A few moments later, Charles Bakaly, Mr Starr’s spokesman, told reporters the independent counsel had turned over substantial and credible information that may constitute grounds for impeachment of the President of the USA".

In a fast-paced day of high drama, Mr Clinton sought the last word by sending his private attorney, David Kendall, to the microphones outside the White House. There is no basis for impeachment," Kendall insisted.

But with the delivery of Mr Starr’s long-awaited report to Congress, that will be for the House to decide, whether before or after fall elections.

The report was expected to lay out evidence of possible obstruction of justice, perjury, witness tampering and abuse of power by Mr Clinton in his effort to conceal an affair with Ms Lewinsky and thwart the Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit.

In his letter to Congress, Mr Starr also hinted the report might contain graphic details. Many of the supporting materials contain information of a personal nature that I respectfully urge the House to treat as confidential," he wrote.

Legislation is expected on the House floor within a few days to provide for the release of much of the Mr Starr material to the public, and to formally charge the judiciary committee with responsibility for reviewing the voluminous documentation.

IANS adds: The Starr report includes a 25-page introduction, a 280-page narrative description of Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky and attempts to cover it up, and a 140-page discussion of the grounds for possible impeachment. Those grounds include perjury, obstruction of justice and abuse of the President’s office.

The boxes containing the documents were taken to a room at the Ford House Office building under lock and key to wait until the House of Representatives decides how to proceed in handling the information. The Republican Party controls both the House and the Senate. Mr Clinton belongs to the Democratic Party.

The independent counsel’s representative, Mr Bakaly, after delivering a letter to Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Democratic Minority Leader Richard Gephardt said: "We have fulfilled our duty. The responsibility for the information we have transmitted today (Wednesday) and any further action now lies with Congress." He said the independent counsel submitted a referral to the House of Representatives" containing substantial and credible information that may constitute grounds for the President impeachment".

By all accounts, the report poses the gravest threat to the presidency since the 1974 Watergate scandal in which the then Republican President, Mr Richard Nixon, quit office without going through the agonising exercise of impeachment. A similar fate awaits Mr Clinton, according to some observers.

Mr Starr, in a covering letter to the report addressed to Mr Gingrich and Mr Gephardt, listed the documents he had made a available to them and urged that the sensitive material be treated confidential. These included secret grand jury evidence, hinting that it might contain graphic details of the President’s sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky.

Mr Gingrich and other Congressional leaders are reportedly working on a resolution to make a portion of the report available to the public as early as tomorrow.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde, who would oversee any impeachment inquiry, said he would not allow a "political witch-hunt" and pledged to work with the Democrats. He said there would be a full impeachment investigation only if justified by the evidence.

Indications are that the committee may consider the report today and the full House tomorrow.If approved by the full House, the report would be made public immediately and then given to Mr Clinton, he said.

House Rules Committee and Judiciary Committee leaders and staff worked last night to finalise the procedures for handling the report and for conducting any hearings into its findings, but a final decision on the broad rules of the inquiry was put off to next week, he said.

36 boxes to seal Clinton's fate Capitol Hill police officers (centre) help deliver boxes of documents pertaining to the report from independent counsel Kenneth Starr, on Wednesday. Monica Lewinsky (left), the former White House intern with whom President Bill Clinton (right)has admitted having an affair. — AP

Italy ready to mediate

CAIRO, Sept 10 (PTI) — Italy has said it is ready to mediate between Libya, the USA and Britain to help bring the two Libyan suspects in the Lockerbie bombing incident to trial.

Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini told reporters here that Libya was an important country and should not be treated like a "pariah".

Dini, who was on a brief visit here, later told a gathering of academics that though there could be no negotiations over what the Americans and British consider as not negotiable, "each of the parties know what it is up to, what will happen once the two suspects are turned over, how they are going to be held to ensure their security".

He said these were legitimate queries to which the UN had been asked for a reply.

"Libya has accepted the US-UK proposal concerning ways of closing the Lockerbie case," Dini said.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has said Tripoli did not recognise the agreement between the USA, the UK and the Netherlands to hold the trial in Holland nor the UN Security Council resolution endorsing it.

The Security Council slammed an embargo on air links against Libya since 1992 in a bid to get the two suspects in the 1988 Pan Am jetliner bombing incident to trial.

Sanctions on Iraq extended

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 10 (AFP) — The UN Security Council has decided to extend eight-year-old sanctions on Iraq indefinitely to punish Baghdad for suspending cooperation with UN arms inspectors.

The 15-member Council unanimously adopted a resolution yesterday canceling a scheduled sanctions review in October, and suspended the regular two-monthly review until Iraq rescinds its August 5 decision freezing cooperation with the UN inspectors.

The decision effectively postpones the lifting of the sanctions indefinitely.

But the resolution, which condemned Baghdad for its decision which violates UN resolutions, also offers a "comprehensive review" of overall Iraqi compliance — once Baghdad had reversed its decision.

China, France and Russia persuaded Britain and the USA to accept a reference in the text which invites UN chief Kofi Annan, who suggested such a review, to "provide his views in that regard."

Diplomats said that Annan would be able to start working on his report even before Iraq resumes cooperation with the UN inspectors.

Britain’s Ambassador, Jeremy Greenstock said Annan’s involvement would be quite useful, since it would allow the UN chief to use his own expertise from his prior dealings with Iraq.

"What this means is that the Council is expressing to Iraq the fact that the road is open to Iraq to move forward and to get rid of sanctions if it responds to Security Council’s requirements, Mr Greenstock said. The mechanisms for that are being adapted to make it slightly easier for Iraq to respond to those requirements."

Iraq’s Ambassador Nizar Hamdoon welcomed such intervention by the UN chief, saying that "the more the Secretary-General is prominent, the more Iraq gets interested in this whole matter," of a comprehensive review.

Such a review, he said, "would focus on the real issue of disarmament which would end up with the lifting of sanctions on Iraq."

The resolution marks the toughest move yet by the Security Council to punish Baghdad for its August 5 decision to terminate cooperation with inspectors, stalling searches of suspected weapons sites.

Bid to curb child sex on Internet

COLOMBO, Sept 10 (IPS) — Pornography on the Internet hinders efforts by rights groups to corner child sex criminals even with tightened worldwide laws against the abuse of youngsters.

The global computer link hosts no less than 600 advertisements on Sri Lankan children and invites foreign pedophiles to enjoy sex with children of any age of their choice.

Is the choice wider than in the rest of the world? "Oh. I don’t know. There may be dozens, hundreds of web sites offering child pornography and child services," said Herve Berger, Executive Director of the Bangkok-based ECPAT or end child prostitution, pornography and trafficking of children.

Mr Berger says the Internet is used to organise meetings between pedophiles, offer information on child sex or pornography such as ‘who is the best one to go to,’ and favourite hotels for pedophiles. Even the names of child prostitutes and prices are provided.

On a visit to Colombo this week to meet local child rights groups and ECPAT’s Sri Lanka partner, Mr Berger said the organisation along with Interpol — the international police outfit based in Paris — are looking at ways of stemming child sex and child pornography on the Internet.

A German company, working with ECPAT and Interpol, has also developed a new anti-virus software that can identify child pornography files on the Internet. Efforts are on to get Internet service providers to see what they can do to help cut the flow of abusive material.

"It is a difficult task and we are looking at ways on how we could tackle this problem," Mr Berger said. "The number of Internet users has grown to 200 million today from only three million about three years ago. So, you see the extent of the problem."

Like many countries in Asia, tourism is a big industry in Sri Lanka. But while drawing thousands of foreign tourists each year to its golden beaches and historical sites, the country has become a haven for foreign pedophiles who find young boys easy prey in a nation where the majority of the people are poor.

"Because of our colonial mentality, the white man is still privileged and such circumstances favour the exploitation of the poor children," explained Arun Tampoe, a lawyer and child rights activist.

At least three foreigners have been convicted in Sri Lanka for child sex offences while another foreign pedophile — wanted in other countries for the same offence — was deported to his home country, Switzerland, and tried, convicted and jailed.

A few other foreigners, arrested for similar offences here, have jumped bail and sneaked out of the country, prompting tighter laws that keep alleged offenders under custody until completion of trial.

In Asia, more than 650,000 children below 16 years work as prostitutes, many of them in China and India. But the problem is also gaining ground in the Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Vietnam and Cambodia.

Mr Berger, a former Amnesty International employee with wide experience in human rights and children’s rights, says ECPAT is the only agency monitoring a plan of action recommended at the 1996 Stockholm summit attended by 122 countries to endorse an agenda to combat child sex and exploitation.

Officials with ECPAT’s local partner, Peace (protecting environment and children everywhere) said when it first started its activities in 1990 against child prostitution and abuse in Sri Lanka, it was an unpopular issue and got no support from the public.

"Now Peace is a household word in Sri Lanka," said Peace Chairman Maureen Seneviratne.

Russian official held for graft

MOSCOW: A senior Russian Finance Ministry official was charged on Wednesday with accepting a hefty bribe from a Moscow bank that has since collapsed, Interfax reported. Former first Deputy Finance Minister Vladimir Petrov was charged with accepting $ 5,20,000 in return for authorising the transfer of public funds to Eskado Bank. Petrov, 44, was arrested by the federal security service as part of an inquiry into corruption linked to the attribution of public money to the regions in 1995-96. — AFP

"Elizabeth"

VENICE (Italy): With a director from Mumbai, Shekhar Kapur, and an Australian star, "Elizabeth", the story of the early years of the great Tudor monarch, might be called the "Revenge of the colonies." The producers, the same team that made the hits — "Four Weddings and a Funeral", "Fargo" and "Dead Man Walking" — said they wanted to give the story a modern feel. "Elizabeth" premiered on Tuesday night to a standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival. —AP

Anne Frank diary

AMSTERDAM: The Anne Frank researcher holding five newly discovered pages of her famed diary will turn them over to Dutch scholars for free if he can’t find a buyer in a year, a friend said. Ms Melissa Muller, author of a new biography of the young Jewish diarist, who hid with her family from he Nazis, told AT5 Television that Cor Suijk is holding out for a $ 5,00,000 donation to the New York-based Anne Frank Centre, USA.— AP

Death penalty

MULTAN: A Pakistani court has sentenced a Shiite Muslim to death on a charge of blaspheming Prophet Muhammad, court officials said on Wednesday. Ghulam Akbar, 25, was sentenced to death at Khanpur in Punjab province by Additional Sessions Judge Syed Fazal Sharif Kazmi. He was arrested in 1996 after allegedly uttering derogatory remarks against the Prophet while taking tea in a restaurant. — AFP

Vice-Governor

BEIJING: China’s Communist Party has expelled a vice-governor of the southern province of Guangxi for accepting bribes, The People’s Daily said on Thursday. Xu Bingsong faces dismissal as Vice-Governor of Guangxi for accepting bribes and cash totalling 6,80,000 yuan, the party’s mouthpiece said. Prosecutors were investigating the scandal, it said without saying in Xu had been taken into custody. — Reuters

Kathmandu airport

KATHMANDU: Nepal got its first radar system at Kathmandu airport on Wednesday. The airport is known among commercial pilots for its treacherous landing and has the reputation as "flying in on wings and a prayer." A Thai Airways and a Pakistan international jetliner crashed there in 1992, killing 280 persons in all. The airport is in the middle of a valley. — AP

Lankan laws

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka has set up a committee to draw up new laws to safeguard morals amid calls to lift a century-old ban on homosexuality. A government statement said Justice Minister G.L. Peiris will head a committee to establish a ‘firm policy’ regarding publications portraying sex, violence and the abuse of alcohol. A gay rights group last month mounted a campaign to lobby the government to repeal the 133-year-old penal code and lift a ban on homosexual behaviour among adults. — AFP

Skeletons

CARDIFF: Ancient skeletons found on a remote island off Scotland showed women did more heavy manual work than men 400 years ago, a scientist said. By examining the spines of people who lived and died on the island of Ensay between the 16th and 19th centuries, Dr Joanna Sofaer Deverenski of Cambridge University said on Wednesday that women suffered physically from strenuous labour.— Reuters