Pak Oppn demands meeting on CTBT
ISLAMABAD, Sept 12 — Nearly the entire Opposition in Pakistan has demanded an all-party meeting on signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty prior to a joint session of Parliament on the issue.

Taliban have confined Laden: Arabic daily
HONG KONG, Sept 12 — Osama bin Laden, the Islamic militant accused of plotting the US embassy bombings in East Africa, has been placed under house arrest by the Taliban militia in Afghanistan, the editor of an Arabic newspaper said today.

Co-defendant in Zardari case killed
KARACHI, Sept 12 — A co-defendant in the corruption case against former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s husband Asif Zardari has been shot dead in Karachi, the police said today.

Pact on toxic chemicals
ROTTERDAM (Netherlands), Sept 12 — Representatives from 57 countries signed a convention limiting the use of toxic chemicals in an effort to protect developing countries from the unscrupulous trade in hazardous substances and pesticides.

Air crash: voice recorder found
HALIFAX, Sept 12 — Navy divers have recovered the cockpit voice recorder from Swissair Flight 111 that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on September 2, killing all 229 persons on board, the Canadian navy said.

Fight on to save Dhaka from flood
DHAKA, Sept 12 — The Bangladesh army is fighting relentlessly, and with people’s help, to save the capital from being completely swamped by violent floods which have caused widespread damage even as swollen river waters have shown signs of receding, officials said today.

NATO restive for action against Serbia
BRUSSELS (Belgium), Sept 12 — The US administration sees a growing readiness in the NATO alliance for military action against Serbia even without prior approval from the United Nations, a senior NATO diplomat said yesterday.

Yeltsin's spokesman sacked
MOSCOW, Sept 12 — President Boris Yeltsin's official spokesman, Mr Sergei Yastrzhembsky, has been dismissed, the Kremlin announced today.

India ‘committed’ to disarmament

LISBON, Sept 12 (PTI) — President K.R. Narayanan today said India was committed to a genuine, comprehensive, global, non-discriminatory and verifiable disarmament regime for weapons of mass destruction.

"India believes that it is only when the international community is willing to undertake effective steps for a nuclear weapons-free world that we can achieve security for all", he said at a lunch hosted in his honour by Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Manuel de Obliveira here.

On Indo-Portuguese bilateral ties, he said greater interaction between business and industry of the two countries would determine their path.

Mr Narayanan said he was pleased by the "reassurance" from the Portuguese Industrial Association that substantial interest already existed in both the countries for greater economic cooperation.

"Today, our relations are being written on the drawing board of economics", the President said, adding that he was confident that the interest could be translated into a more vigorous and substantive economic partnership.

India is a country teeming with the spirit of economic, freedom, standing on the threshold of great economic changes, he said.

Mr Narayanan said a "great fund of goodwill" existed between the two countries and India attached great importance to its relations with Portugal which had always been marked by "comprehension and cooperation".

"I am confident that we can embark on a qualitatively higher relationship to expand the range of our bilateral contacts, deepen our political dialogue, and realise the full potential of our economic relationship", he said.

Pak Oppn demands meeting on CTBT

ISLAMABAD, Sept 12 (PTI, UNI) — Nearly the entire Opposition in Pakistan has demanded an all-party meeting on signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) prior to a joint session of Parliament on the issue, even as media reports said the government had given “concrete assurances” to the USA on signing the treaty last month.

The Opposition, led by Ms Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Khan Abdul Wali Khan’s Awami National Party (ANP), staged a noisy walkout at the joint session of Parliament yesterday, accusing the government of a “secret deal” on the issue and using the House as a “rubber stamp”.

At a joint press conference later, eight political parties warned the government against signing the CTBT before taking the Opposition into confidence, and vowed they would resist the move in “greater national interest”.

Media reports today claimed the 18-month-old Nawaz Sharif government had already given an assurance to the USA on signing the treaty about three weeks ago.

“Pakistan has given the USA concrete assurance to sign the CTBT last month when Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmed met Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott in London,” “The Nation” daily claimed, quoting highly-placed political sources.

Initiating the debate, Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz has said that after conducting the nuclear tests, Pakistan could join the (CTBT) only as a nuclear-weapon state and not accept any other status under the treaty.

Mr Aziz categorically stated that Pakistan would never agree to the reversal of its nuclear capability. “The nuclear deterrence established by our demonstrated capability is vital for our national security and is an assurance of peace in the region.”

He said the bold decision by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had helped Pakistan gain a new status and deterrence capability to face any aggression. “The nuclear deterrence, critical to Pakistan’s self defence is indispensable for our national security. Pakistan has crossed threshold, and our moratorium and even accession to the CTBT if we so decide in our national interest will not erode this deterrence capability,” he said.

Explaining the scope of the implications of the CTBT, the Foreign Minister said it only bans the nuclear explosion and does not prohibit manufacture of nuclear weapons on the basis of tested designs. He said Pakistan was determined to maintain the nuclear capability and would not sign the CTBT under any atmosphere of coercion.

He assured members that the government would not accept the CTBT unless economic sanctions and pressures were removed.

Mr Aziz said that after the nuclear tests, the USA initiated dialogue both with Pakistan and India on security and nuclear issues. Pakistan emphasised the need for an effective involvement of major power, especially the USA, for the resolution of the Kashmir issue.

He said Pakistan had argued that without progress on Kashmir, the situation in South Asia could further deteriorate and lead to an arms race in the region.

Primakov infatuated with Indology

MOSCOW, Sept 12 (UNI) — Introducing a team of eminent scholars of the Indian Academic world to the Secretary of the Azerbaijan Communist Party in the early eighties in Baku, academician Yevgeni Primakov remarked, "You are meeting a rising star of the Soviet Union."

Such a forecast during those days of strict control by the USSR Central Committee over any pronouncements by Soviet leaders would have led to the fall of the "soothsayer".

Kremlin watchers in the Baku hall were amazed at the audacity of the Director of the Oriental Institute of Moscow — Mr Primakov. But as the Azerbaijanian party chief, who was also holding the post of non-voting member of the Politbureau, only smiled at Mr Primakov’s remark, it was clear the academician belonged to a circle very close to Kremlin power corridors.

A few months later, Mr Aliyev moved to Moscow as a full-fledged member of the Politbureau, confirming the forecast made by Mr Primakov.

The Indian delegation, which included late Prof Rashiduuddin of the JNU, Prof V.P. Dutt of Delhi University and foreign policy expert Bhabani Sengupta, was on a study tour of the USSR and Mr Primakov accompanied it to all places it visited.

The job could have been performed by even a senior interpretor but Mr Primakov set aside protocol considerations and for 10 days continued his uninterrupted dialogue with the Indian guests. That "tour guide" is now the Prime Minister of Russia.

It was for his infatuation with Indology that Mr Primakov had made himself a part of the Indian delegation, explained a senior Russian scholar later.

Mr Primakov succeeded legendary revolutionary and Central Asian scholar Babajan Gafurov as the head of the Institute for Oriental Studies. He is said to have converted it into a centre for Indology. What is Oriental studies without Indology, Mr Primakov told his colleagues.

During his tenure as Director of the institute, he had once arranged a meeting of his scholars with the then Indian envoy Inder Kumar Gujral and Pakistani envoy Sahibzada Yakub Khan to discuss issues existing in the Indian sub-continent.

Essentially a man of the academic world, the new Russian Prime Minister never liked to be in the limelight and "appeared" only when his services were called for.

During one of the visits of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to Moscow, foreign policy experts of the two countries prepared a draft paper, which the then Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze described as "listless". He told bureaucrats he would be reprimanded by Mr Mikhail Gorbachev and so would be the Indian specialists by their leader for preparing such a draft.

Mr Primakov was then summoned to do the needful and after burning the midnight oil he handed over quite a sensational draft to the Kremlin. Whether that draft became the basis of the joint statement is not known but it bore testimony to the versatility of the Indologist, though by then he had moved to the all-encompassing Soviet Institute for World Economy and International Affairs as its Director.

He kept a low profile till he was suddenly made the country’s Foreign Minister in 1996 and one of his first task on getting to the post was a visit to New Delhi. Sometime later, he issued an unequivocal statement that Russia, China and India were important strategic allies and partners. This was a total reversal of Russia’s 1990 stand when the then Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev had dismissed India as just another Third World country.

After he took over, Mr Primakov ensured the Indo-Russian ties were put back on the old pedestal. Arms deals were revived with a bang, trade relations picked up momentum and the two nations once more began working together to overcome the pressure from powers assuming the role of global policemen.

Recently at Geneva he tried to prevent "Anti-India" forces to gang up over the economic sanctions issue saying that such measures against a big country like India would not yield the desired results. Though the West imposed "tough sanctions" on New Delhi, their impact was softened a bit by Russia’s refusal to either join or support the move.

It is believed President Yeltsin was about to buckle under US threats of sanctions against Russia if it provided cryogenic engine technology to India and it was the Kremlin troubleshooter Mr Primakov who devised a compromise formula under which Moscow supplied readymade space engines in place of the cryogenic technology.

The place Mr Primakov gives to India could be gauged from what he once told an Indian correspondent who was seeking an appointment for an interview with him in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. "Why be so formal, Indians do not need to request me for a meeting. They are always welcome" he said.

However, it has to be seen how Mr Primakov manages his new tough and thankless assignment, which the Russian daily Izestia, describes as an "electric chair" as the country is going through its worst economic crisis since the Soviet collapse.

Whether he is able to "absorb" the "power shock" or not one thing is certain he has, as of now, the support of all sections of the Russian political spectrum barring that of the Liberal Democratic Party of the ultra nationalist Mr Zhirinovsky.

Taliban have confined Laden: Arabic daily

HONG KONG, Sept 12 (AFP) — Osama bin Laden, the Islamic militant accused of plotting the US embassy bombings in East Africa, has been placed under house arrest by the Taliban militia in Afghanistan, the editor of an Arabic newspaper said today.

Abdel-bari-Atwan, Editor of the London-based Al-Quds al-Arabi’, told BBC he had spoken to Laden and the Saudi dissident had told him he was under house arrest near Kandahar.

“I believe the Taliban movement was extremely angry because he was in touch with the Press ... so because of that they put him under house arrest and also to protect them from any American raids,” said Atwan.

The USA accused Laden of masterminding the twin bombings of its embassies in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam on August 7 which killed 257 persons.

It responded by launching Cruise missile attacks on training bases allegedly run by Laden in Afghanistan.

The Taliban, which controls more than 90 per cent of Afghanistan, has consistently refused requests to hand over Laden to the USA — insisting he is an “honoured guest” in the country.

CARACAS: Laden is being sought in Venezuela, official sources said in published reports. The request from Interpol, which was accompanied by photographs, warned that he may be travelling with three accomplices and may have Venezuela or another Caribbean nation as tourist, said Commissioner Leonardo Diaz, Venezuela’s Interpol chief on Friday. Diaz said all four men were considered very dangerous.

Co-defendant in Zardari case killed

KARACHI, Sept 12 (AFP) — A co-defendant in the corruption case against former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s husband Asif Zardari has been shot dead in Karachi, the police said today.

Sajjad Hussain, former chairman of state-run Pakistan Steel, was sprayed with bullets by seven men minutes after he left his house late yesterday, they said.

Six other persons, including two activists of Karachi’s unit of the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM), were killed in other parts of the city yesterday, the police said.

Tension rose in several neighbourhoods, and markets and shops remained closed.

Hussain was accused along with Zardari of receiving kickbacks on a contract during Bhutto’s three-year rule.

Hussain was released on bail in May last year. He was to appear before an Ehtesab (accountability) bench of a high court in Rawalpindi in the same case on Monday.

Zardari, who was investment minister, has been in jail since the dismissal of the Bhutto government on charges of corruption and misrule. In addition to corruption cases, he faces trial on criminal charges. Bhutto is herself facing corruption charges.

Pact on toxic chemicals

ROTTERDAM, (Netherlands), Sept 12 (AFP) — Representatives from 57 countries signed a convention limiting the use of toxic chemicals in an effort to protect developing countries from the unscrupulous trade in hazardous substances and pesticides.

The Rotterdam convention, sponsored by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), prevents the export of known hazardous chemicals to a second country without the express agreement of the receiving nation.

“The legally binding treaty will protect the environment and millions of farmers, workers and consumers from the misuse and accidental release of toxic substances, particularly in developing countries,” the FAO and UNEP said in a statement after the signing ceremony at the end of a two-day conference in the port city of Rotterdam yesterday.

At least 50 countries must ratify the convention before the treaty comes into force but the conference adopted an interim procedure to allow the voluntary implementation of the agreement until it becomes legally binding.

Signatories to the convention include among others: the 15 EU nations, Angola, Brazil, Colombia, Ghana, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Kuwait, Sudan, Tunisia, Turkey, the USA and Yemen.

Air crash: voice recorder found

HALIFAX, Sept 12 (AFP) — Navy divers have recovered the cockpit voice recorder from Swissair Flight 111 that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on September 2, killing all 229 persons on board, the Canadian navy said.

Navy spokesman Tim Dunne said yesterday divers found the “black box” containing the recorder at 1900 GMT (0030 IST).

Investigators said they hoped the voice recorder would shed light on the flight’s last six minutes. This part was missing from the flight data recorder recovered last week.

The flight data recorder is being studied at a laboratory in Ottawa.

At a Press conference on Thursday, the chief investigator said that any transcript of talks inside the cockpit would remain secret because such talks were confidential and protected by law.

Critical information about the investigation would be made public, he said.

On Tuesday investigators released the complete recording of dialogue between the Flight 111 crew and control tower personnel in Moncton, New Brunswick, and Halifax.

They revealed that the pilot had placed an oxygen mask on his face about 15 minutes before the accident, just after having announced that there was smoke in the air-conditioning system.

Signs of heat damage found on Flight 111 debris may suggest a fire contributed to the crash, investigators say. The heat stress was detected on some small pieces of wreckage that appear to have come from the aircraft cockpit.

Fight on to save Dhaka from flood

DHAKA, Sept 12 (PTI) — The Bangladesh army is fighting relentlessly, and with people’s help, to save the capital from being completely swamped by violent floods which have caused widespread damage even as swollen river waters have shown signs of receding, officials said today.

President Shahabuddin Ahmed today visited the vulnerable 32-km-long Dhaka-Narayanganj-Demra (DND) Dam, Dhaka’s one of the two crucial safeguards from the devastating deluge, and inquired from officials about the emergency measures being taken to save the embankment.

Members of the Army Engineering Corps and soldiers as well as local people kept a tense vigil on the two embankments — the DND to the southeast of the city in Naryanganj district and the 30-km-long Dhaka city embankment to the northeast — to save them from the swollen rivers around the capital two-thirds of which is already under water.

The overall flood situation in and around the capital remained static with the Turag at Mirpur, the Buriganga in Dhaka and Shitalakhya at Narayanganj registering a slight fall of one to 4 cm though they are still flowing well above their danger levels.

Officials said the city continued to remain cut off from the rest of the country by road and train.

NATO restive for action against Serbia

BRUSSELS (Belgium), Sept 12 (AP) — The US administration sees a growing readiness in the NATO alliance for military action against Serbia even without prior approval from the United Nations, a senior NATO diplomat said yesterday.

The allies have been prevented from taking a more forceful stance over Kosovo by divisions over whether a UN blessing is needed for military action to halt President Slobodan Milosevic’s crackdown on rebel ethnic Albanians.

However, France, in particular, has insisted a NATO campaign be endorsed beforehand by the UN Security Council. Russia, opposed to such intervention, could veto it.

The diplomat said talks the USA has had with officials in France, Germany, Britain and other allies in recent weeks revealed a hardening of views toward Mr Milosevic and a desire not to be held hostage by a Russian “no” in the Security Council.

“Things are coming to a head”, said the NATO diplomat, who asked not to be identified.

No ally wants to see NATO blocked by the need to get a United Nations mandate. Serbian security forces are still on the offensive (in) actions that go beyond teaching the KLA a lesson”.

Yeltsin's spokesman sacked

MOSCOW, Sept 12 (AFP) — President Boris Yeltsin's official spokesman, Mr Sergei Yastrzhembsky, has been dismissed, the Kremlin announced today.

He was also dropped from his post as Deputy Head of the President's Office, the Kremlin said.

He would be given other duties, the announcement said, without giving any details.

Mr Yastrzhembsky (44), a former diplomat, had been Mr Yeltsin's spokesman since August 13, 1993.

India, Pak issues
MOSCOW: China has said nuclear tests by India had led to “dissatisfaction” in the world and hoped that New Delhi and Islamabad would resolve outstanding issues through a “sincere, open and rational” dialogue. At a meeting with the Lok Sabha Speaker, Mr G.M.C. Balayogi, here vice-chairman, standing committee of National People’s Congress of China, Xu Jialu, hoped that India and Pakistan would sit across the negotiating table and through a sincere, open and rational dialogue would find solutions to outstanding issues. — PTI

Flood damage
DHAKA: Bangladesh could need around $ 3.4 billion, equivalent to 10 per cent of its gross domestic product of $ 34 billion, to repair damage to its economy from its worst floods this century, economists said. The floods have reaped a devastating economic toll as industry, transport and production have ground to a halt across the country. — AFP

Minister on trial
MOSCOW: Russian Deputy Finance Minister Vladimir Petrove has been put on trial in a criminal court for his alleged involvement in a banking scam, Radio Moscow reported. Prosecutors have accused him of accepting $ 1,000,00 as bribe for setting a deal between a Russian bank and a business entrepreneur house. — UNI

Jump to safety
DHAKA: Former Bangladesh President H.M. Ershad had to jump into a river to save himself from possible electrocution when the boat in which he was travelling hit a live wire, eyewitness accounts said here on Saturday. The incident occurred when the Jatiya Party chief, along with about 60 partymen and journalists, was returning after distributing relief materials to flood-hit people in Narayanganj district near here late Friday, witnesses said. —PTI

Suicide by conscript
MOSCOW: An armed conscript who seized a Russian nuclear submarine after killing eight fellow crewmen has committed suicide, the defence ministry said on Saturday. A spokesman confirmed Russian news agency reports that the sailor, Alexander Kuzminykh, killed himself late Friday.—Reuters