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| Friday, July 7, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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UK lifts arms sales ban on Pak Pak traders tear-gassed
Clinton’s gamble on West Asia
might fail UN Council bans Sierra Leone
diamond export Castro’s homage to
Elian’s father |
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US pacts to protect kids Work visa ban on Indians to stay Fresh initiative on Solomon crisis
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UK lifts arms sales ban on Pak LONDON, July 6 (PTI) — In a major policy-shift, Britain has lifted its embargo on arms sales to Pakistan, ignoring the international pressure on the army regime in Islamabad that overthrew the Nawaz Sharif government to restore democracy. The announcement was made by Britain Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, in a parliamentary written answer yesterday, The Guardian said. "Britain has considered the situation in Pakistan and the wider region since the coup before deciding on a number of licence applications", Mr Cook said. He said: "We remain concerned about defence exports to Pakistan, in the light of the incursion at Kargil, the coup, the possibility of diversion to undesirable end-users and continued regional tensions." All 46-applications for export licenses to Pakistan from British arms firms had been blocked since the coup. Twenty applications would now be approved and 26 denied, it said. Now supplies of spare parts for ship, naval helicopters and naval planes were to be resumed, the daily said. In a deal agreed between Mr Cook and other ministers, the export of small arms and ammunition, which could be used in Kashmir region or for internal repression would still be blocked, it said. Ending the ban so quickly would create concern in a region which was one of the "world’s flashpoints", the daily said. It would also raise question about Mr Cook’s ethical foreign policy, which had been repeatedly undercut by British defence firms. Mr Cook put a block on arms sales and successfully led calls for Pakistan to be suspended from the Commonwealth after Gen Pervez Musharraf’s coup on October 12. Ending the ban would almost certainly be condemned by India but would be welcomed by Pakistan as an important gesture, the daily said. Mr Cook’s decision contrasts with his tone at the European summit in Finland in October following the coup. Then he had said: "It is important to send a clear message that we deplore the overthrow of democracy". He wanted a swift and orderly return to democracy and rule of law. The diluting of the ban had taken place despite a lack of movement by General Musharraf’s government to set a date for return to democracy. The government had also failed to tackle the Islamic terrorists operating within Pakistan’s borders, who were among "the undesirable end-users (of arms)" the report said. A Foreign Office source said yesterday’s decision was not "triggered" by any one event but "if you take a look at what was happening in Kargil last year. We have not seen a repetition, which is a fairly crucial indication of whether there has been renewed aggression." The move followed a battle between Cabinet ministers earlier this year, revealed in internal memoranda leaked to the guardian. Mr Cook at the time was fending off attempts by Defence Secretary Geoff Hoom and Trade and Industry Secretary, Stephen Byers to restore arms sales. Although the embargo had been lifted, approval would only be given to exports regarded as the "least contentious’’. These would include spare parts for ships, naval helicopters and naval planes. The Foreign Office believed these would have no role in Kashmir. Approval would also be
given to supply bomb disposal equipment and goods for
civilian end-user, the report said. |
Pak traders tear-gassed RAWALPINDI, July 6 (AFP) — The Pakistani riot police today fired tear gas, and for the second day, fought running battles with crowds protesting against the military government’s new tax drive, police and witnesses said. Shops and markets in this northern Pakistani city, near the capital Islamabad, were closed again as hundreds of protesters blocked roads with burning tyres and hurled rocks at the police, witnesses said. The police repeatedly charged the slogan-chanting crowds with batons, they said."A hide-and-seek game is continuing between the police and protesters" as groups of demonstrators emerged from congested streets to attack the police with stones, a police officer told AFP. Dozens of people were arrested. Yesterday the police had detained around 75 people amid similar violence. "At least six policemen were injured and dozens of others received minor injuries in clashes overnight," an official said. Tension between the government and traders has been simmering since late May when military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, launched a nationwide survey to document the black economy and rope in millions of tax evaders. Shopkeepers, who have
never been prosecuted for not paying tax in the past,
have refused to fill out the survey forms. They have also
opposed a GST (General Sales Tax) introduced this year. |
‘Ban not lifted totally’ LONDON, July 6 (Reuters) — Britain denied a newspaper report today that it had lifted a ban on the sale of arms to Pakistan. A Foreign Office spokesman described the report in The Guardian as a "misinterpretation" of details in a written parliamentary reply by the government. "This is not a case of the embargo suddenly being lifted," he said. He said a review of the embargo had taken place and a large number of items still remained subject to the ban. The government had "stuck strictly to EU guidelines" during its deliberations, the spokesman said. "The only items that can now be exported are items which can not be used for offensive claims," he said. "That includes
items that can’t be used as retribution against the
public...things like bomb disposal equipment and tools
for equipment repairs," he added. |
Clinton’s gamble on West Asia might fail WASHINGTON, July 6 (AFP) — US President Bill Clinton has convened an Israeli-Palestinian summit outside Washington for next week but admitted his high-stakes gamble on West Asia peace could fail. Mr Clinton, with barely five months of his presidency remaining, conceded there was "clearly no guarantee of success" at the summit opening Tuesday next. The three-way summit at the Camp David presidential retreat in neighbouring Maryland will be attended by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and PLO leader Yasser Arafat. Bringing peace to the West Asia has topped Clinton’s foreign policy agenda for his second term, but progress has stalled as Israel and the Palestinians remain deeply at odds over key issues. Mr Clinton said the summit could be over within days but would continue as long as it took to reach an accord. "I think if we work hard, we can get it done in several days. But I will give it whatever time is required as long as we are still moving forward," he said. The summit is unlikely to continue more than a week, however, as Mr Clinton is expected to leave Washington on July 19 for Japan, where he will attend a Group of Eight summit. However, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright would be a constant presence at the summit, her spokesman Richard Boucher said. A senior state department official underlined the nature of Mr Clinton’s gamble, saying that bringing matters to a head at a US summit carried a heavy price tag in the event of failure. Mr Clinton called on Mr Barak and Mr Arafat to take "historic decisions that only the two leaders can make". Fears that Mr Barak would make concessions to Mr Arafat prompted his Interior Minister Nathan Sharansky to announce his resignation following the summit announcement and others have threatened to follow his example. Mr Barak said in Paris yesterday, "I will sign no agreement which does not take into account our security needs and our interests." He said that any accord will be subject to a referendum in Israel. Israeli-Palestinian
differences were exacerbated further by PLO’s
declaration on Monday that it will proclaim an
independent state on September 13 with or without
Israel’s blessing. |
UN Council bans Sierra Leone diamond export UNITED NATIONS, July 6 (PTI) — In an effort to throttle the main income source of Sierra Leone rebels, the Security Council has passed a resolution banning diamond exports from rebel-controlled areas. Only diamonds certified by the Sierra Leone Government can be exported, the resolution, passed last night, said. The resolution, which imposed the ban initially for 18 months, was passed 14-0 with Mali abstaining to protest the specific mention of Liberia as a country aiding illicit diamond trade by Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels. While the resolution does not criticise either Liberia or its President Charles Taylor, Mali contended it was wrong to indict the state before an inquiry into its role was over. The trade is so called "conflict diamonds" from Sierra Leone is estimated to be worth $ 300 million to $ 750 million. Two more resolutions on
Sierra Leone — to increase the strength of
peacekeepers from 3,000 to 16,500 and to try jailed RUF
leader Foday Sankoh — are being contemplated by the
council. |
Castro’s homage to Elian’s father HAVANA, July 6 (Reuters) — Cuban President Fidel Castro yesterday led a patriotic homage to the father of shipwreck survivor Elian Gonzalez — saying the 6-year-old boy’s return last week was the most emotional moment of his revolutionary life. In a ceremony honouring Juan Miguel Gonzalez, Castro compared the custody saga with other decisive moments in his political life such as the 1959 Cuban revolution and the 1961 defeat of a US -backed invasion at the Bay of Pigs. "In none of those occasions during our struggles did I experience such intense emotion as when, upon the opening of the doors of the small plane that brought them from the USA... I saw emerge ... the figures of Juan Miguel and Elian," the 73-year-old Cuban leader said in a speech. Castro, who stood beside
Gonzalez as he spoke to a 5,000-strong gathering at
Havana’s Karl Mark Theatre, was giving his first
public speech since last week’s end of the bitter
and highly-politicised, seven-month battle over Elian. |
US pacts to protect kids UNITED NATIONS, July 6 (Reuters) — US President Bill Clinton has signed two UN Agreements designed to protect children — some as young as five or six — from sexual abuse and from fighting in wars from Colombia to Sierra Leone. Saying millions of children around the world who labour under conditions that "shock the conscience," Mr Clinton yesterday signed the two documents that seek to prevent the exploitation of children through slavery, prostitution, pornography and warfare. States that sign the treaty agreements will have to ensure that no one under the age of 18 takes part in combat or is forcibly recruited as well as to take action to prohibit the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. "Every day tens of millions of children work in conditions that shock the conscience," Mr Clinton told a UN Audience after being introduced by US Ambassador Richard Holbrooke. "Every day, thousands of children are killed and brutalised in fighting wars that adults decided they should fight in. Every day around the world and even here in the USA, children are sold into virtual slavery or traffic for the worse forms of sexual abuse," he said. "One country, even a large country cannot win alone," he said, adding that the two protocols were "signposts for the future of global society." Saying 2 million children had fought in wars over the past two decades, Mr Clinton pointed out that youngsters — 5 or 6 years of age — were being forced to join rebel forces in Sierra Leone while drug dealers took thousands of children from villages in Colombia. The documents Mr Clinton signed were optional protocols, or additions, to the 1989 convention on the rights of the child and were approved by the UN General Assembly on May 25. The protocol is vague on
the question of a new minimum age for voluntary recruits.
It says only that signatories should "raise their
minimum age for voluntary recruitment to an age above the
current 15-year international standard." |
Work visa ban on Indians to stay DUBAI, July 6 (PTI) — The partial ban on employment visas for workers from India and Pakistan will continue for the time being in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). UAE Minister for Labour and Social Affairs Mattar Humaid Al Tayer said that no decision on opening work visas for people from these countries had been taken. Gulf today quoted him as saying that some companies had been permitted to import foreign labour but on condition that they would not exploit job seekers and would not take any payment from the workers. However, he said, the ministry could not do anything if the prospective employee was willing to pay money to the company in exchange for employment. Mr Al Tayer said the ministry would stop visa facility for any company against which complaints with proof were received. Such complaints would be subject to law enforcement. On the moves to amend
the labour laws to reduce the gratuity and leave for
employees, the minister claimed that most of the workers
were protected by social security systems in their home
countries and hence gratuity could be reduced, the
Khaleej Times quoted him as saying. |
Fresh initiative on Solomon crisis HONIARA, July 6 (AP) — The Solomon Islands’ new government today launched a fresh initiative to bring peace to the conflict-torn South Pacific nation. Deputy Prime Minister Allan Kemakeza met Ezekiel Alebua, Premier of Guadalcanal province, in the hope Alebua can press one of two warring rebel groups into attending peace talks. Mr Alebua is believed to exert influence over the Isatabu Freedom Fighters, a militia force from Guadalcanal, the Solomon Islands’ main island. Mr Sogavare described
today’s meeting as "preliminary discussions
towards cease-fire talks between the two militant
groups". |
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