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| Thursday, October 12, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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HRW for end to army rule in Pakistan Questionnaire for new PM Change of guard
leads to purges Prisoner swap ‘only way
to get Israeli men back’ Mauritius wins poll
for UN Council Speight to be tried
for treason |
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Depression, heart disease linked
Suu Kyi meets UN envoy
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HRW for end to army rule in Pakistan ISLAMABAD, Oct 11 (Reuters) — The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said today conditions in Pakistan had deteriorated since last year’s coup and called for international pressure to force an end to military rule. In a report on the eve of the first anniversary of the October 12 bloodless coup by the army, chief Gen Pervez Musharraf, the group accused the government of human rights abuses during its year in office. “The Musharraf administration has since begun to address a few longstanding justice issues, notably through the adoption of Pakistan’s first juvenile justice law and establishment of a commission on the status of women,’’ the report said. But the group said human rights had deteriorated and international donors, including the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, could link new loans for cash-strapped Pakistan to a commitment to restore good governance and constitutional rule. “The state of emergency imposed last October should be lifted immediately, constitutional human rights safeguards recognised and fully respected, and a clear and reasonable timetable set for holding national elections and returning the country to constitutional rule,’’ the report said. DPA adds: General Musharraf pledged to return Pakistan to parliamentary democracy by October, 2002, after clearing what he called the political mess of half a century. “There is a need for collective sacrifices to clear the rot created by the previous governments led by politicians, technocrats and army generals over the past 53 years,” the General told mediapersons in Lahore on Tuesday, two days ahead of the first anniversary of the coup. General Musharraf said the armed forces had no intention to prolong their rule. The local council elections starting in December would be followed by elections to provincial and federal legislatures from August, 2001, he said. Last May, the Supreme Court set the deadline of October, 2002, for the military to return the country to democracy. The General ruled out associating politicians in planning his political reforms. |
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Questionnaire for new PM LAHORE, Oct 11 — In an interview on the eve of the anniversary of his takeover (Oct 12), Gen Musharraf said Pakistan should have clean politicians who do not belong to rich families and vested interests or dynasties. Pakistanis in high places are now chortling over an application form doing the rounds of this dictator-prone nation. It reads: “Please fill this form, Pakistan needs Prime Minister badly.” There are no guesses about who is behind the gag because the form is printed in ornate style; superimposed on a poster titled: “ Pakistan crisis” with a mug shot of Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto’s profile. It carries the insignia of the Pakistan Army GHO and the Government of Pakistan is printed prominently at the top. It has all the hallmarks of the Inter-Services Intelligence “dirty tricks department”. Sample this: “Present address (i) Name of jail (ii) Cell number (if not in jail, attach proof of residence) (iii) If abroad then also write zip code. Even the young “talibs” (students) in madrasas can recognise that this is a jibe directed at the erstwhile Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Typically in the style of the ISI campaign against her during the election campaign when she was seeking a second term in office the fourth question on sex of the applicant are the following choices. A Male; B-Female;C-Benazir; D-“General” (any). Question number six seeks “Reasons for contesting elections (circle one or more) A-Defected; B-To escape court trial; C-To grossly misuse power; D-To serve the public;E-No clue. (if you choose D attach certificate of sanity from a recognised very well known psychiatrist). Given the fact that there are 12 questions — it was on October 12 that General Pervez Musharraf executed his coup d’etat against Nawaz Sharif — the joke could well be on a Chief Executive who has had to sack his Minister of Information for rank bad publicity the military dictator attracted during the UN Millennium Summit in September. It is no secret that Musharraf is hellbent on discrediting all politicians and political parties prior to “returning to democracy”. With all politicians and political entities thoroughly discredited who will be left in the fray? You guessed it: Pervez Musharraf. That is why Pakistanis are chortling in their drawing rooms.
— ADNI |
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Change of guard
leads to purges THE CROWDS may have melted from the streets but Yugoslavia’s revolution is continuing, surging into factories and offices to oust bosses loyal to the old regime. Academics, miners, policemen, secretaries and chefs are among the employees sweeping managers from their jobs in a wave of popular revenge. Company directors are being escorted from their desks by strike committees determined to build a new country from the ground up. Bodyguards have been summoned to protect the evicted from farewell punches. Last night, Jagos Puric, the Rector of Belgrade University, looked likely to be the next victim. More than 70 colleagues crammed into the smoke-filled chamber next to his office to vote on his dismissal. Speakers took the microphone to denounce him as a stooge imposed by Slobodan Milosevic to control staff and students after university autonomy was abolished in May 1998. Lectures were suspended for the day but students lurked in the hallways to hear the outcome. “He won’t survive: he allowed himself to be used by Milosevic. We all knew it but couldn’t do anything about it,” said Petar Petrovich, (30), a student of Serbian literature. Mr Puric had not been seen since gathering his belongings from his office early in the morning. At the faculty of political science, meanwhile, a newly formed teachers’ council dismissed Vladimir Stambuk, a Dean and member of the Yugoslav Left, led by Milosevic’s wife, Mirjana Markovic. On the outskirts of the city a police station was paralysed by officers’ demands for the resignation of superiors who had tried to follow orders to suppress last week’s protests. And strikers at the Kolubara mine persuaded the Serbian electric power company to sack or suspend senior executives, including the managing director, Milan Obradovic. Their colleagues at the RTB mine in Bor, near the Romanian border, dismissed their managing director and dissolved the board. But amid the euphoria, there was suspicion that the purges could mutate into personal vendettas and cronyism as the new elite manoeuvred for top jobs. “A large number of people are hiding behind our name,” said Zarko Korac of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS). But Zoran Sami, Vice-President of DOS, said swift changes were necessary to stop the old regime exploiting the chaos. “We have taken over some of these institutions only temporarily to prevent this plunder.” President Vojislav Kostunica, promising “a wave of democratic change’’, has been leading the charge. He has installed his supporters into the police, judiciary, banks and state-run companies. But not all the mighty fell. Borka Vucic clicked across the marble floors of Investbanka’s offices on Terazije Street as usual. Some staff demanded that their boss, who allegedly ran slush funds for Milosevic, leave the building for her own safety. “She knows all Slobo’s secrets so the new government needs her help in tracking down the money. But it’s not right that she keeps her job,” said a female bank teller.
— The Guardian DPA adds: Supreme Court Chief Justice Borivoje Vukicevic today became the latest prominent casualty of the wave of resignations and dismissals sweeping the country following the downfall of Yugoslav strongman Slobodan Milosevic. Vukicevic also resigned from the office of chairman of the Yugoslav Central Electoral Commission. He had been accused of playing a pivotal role in the rigging of the results in the September 24 presidential election. As Dos claimed victory the electoral commission had insisted a runoff round was needed saying neither Milosevic nor Kostunica won an outright majority in the first round. One of the main challenges newly installed President faces on the domestic front in addition to the rundown economy is that all institutions are still in the hands of Milosevic supporters. |
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Prisoner swap ‘only way
to get Israeli men back’ BEIRUT, Oct 11 (Reuters)— Lebanon’s Hizbollah told Israel today an exchange of prisoners through acceptable mediators was the only way to win the release of three Israeli soldiers and that any military rescue attempt would be doomed. Sheikh Naim Kassem, Hizbollah’s deputy chief, speaking ahead of a visit by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to Lebanon, said Hizbollah accepted in principle the U.N. chief’s mediation. Mr Annan was due to arrive in Beirut today for talks on the fate of the three Israeli soldiers and to try to defuse the risk of Israeli reprisals against Lebanon and
Syria. Shaikh Kassem said the group had not been informed yet if Annan, who was to meet Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, would also want to see Hizbollah leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah. He said that any attempt to free the soldiers by force would be doomed and warned Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak that any attack on Lebanon would be very costly for Israel. |
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Mauritius wins poll
for UN Council UNITED NATIONS, Oct 11 (PTI) — The USA scored a major victory in the United Nations General Assembly when Mauritius, backed by it, defeated Sudan, endorsed by the Group of African States, in the election for non permanent members of the Security council. Mauritius along with Colombia, Ireland, Norway and Singapore were yesterday elected to serve on the 15-member Council for a two-year period beginning January 1 next. They replace Argentina, Canada, Malaysia, Namibia and THE Netherlands whose term expires on December 31. Washington had launched a vigorous campaign against Sudan which is under the UN sanctions for allegedly sponsoring terrorism, after its efforts to make Sudan withdraw failed. American Ambassador Richard Holbrooke said Sudan had offered to withdraw if the USA helped repeal sanctions against it. But Washington rejected the offer, he said. After Sudan lost in a close vote, its Ambassador Elfatih Mohammad Erwa said he was not so much disappointed by the defeat as by the fact that Mauritius had broken the consensus. Singapore and Colombia, endorsed by the Asian, Latin American and the Caribbean groups, respectively, along with Ireland were elected in the first round itself but election of Mauritius and Norway dragged on to the fourth round. |
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Speight to be tried
for treason WELLINGTON, Oct 11 (DPA) — A bid for freedom by Fiji rebel leader George Speight, who mounted an armed coup to overthrow the elected government in May, was rejected by a Magistrate today and he will face trial on treason charges, according to reports from the capital Suva. Speight and 15 others involved in the coup, in which they held then Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and his government hostage in Parliament for 56 days, claimed they were being detained illegally, Radio New Zealand reported. They said they were guaranteed immunity from prosecution under an amnesty granted by the pacific island country’s armed forces ruling under martial law as part of an agreement in which they released the hostages. The court rejected this, reportedly on grounds including, evidence that the rebels had not handed back all weapons taken from the military armoury before they stormed Parliament, and Speight and the others will go on trial on October 25. |
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Depression, heart disease linked WASHINGTON, Oct 11 (Reuters) — Older people who have symptoms of depression are also more likely to develop heart disease and have heart attacks and strokes, researchers have said. In a 10-year study of people aged 65 and older, researchers said they found those who had symptoms of depression, such as feeling fearful, irritable or unable to sleep, were 40 per cent more likely to develop heart disease. Maybe they are not eating right, or perhaps, they feel too low to exercise. Or, there could be an unknown physical factor that causes both depression and heart disease, the researchers reported yesterday in the journal circulation, published by the American Heart Association.
The researchers did not look for clinical depression, but questioned 4,493 volunteers over the age of 65 about their symptoms. Most of the patients did not have diagnosed heart disease at the beginning of the study. They were followed for 10 years to see if they developed heart disease.
Suu Kyi meets UN envoy YANGON, Oct 11 (AFP) — Myanmar Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi today met UN special envoy Razali Ismail in Yangon, a government source said. The veteran Malaysian diplomat met the National League for Democracy (NLD) leader at her home following an earlier meeting with the head of the military junta, senior Gen Than Shwe and First Secretary Khin Nyunt, head of intelligence. Mr Ismail left the Nobel Peace Prize winner’s house at 6.30 pm but no further details were available. Nor was there any indication that the de facto house arrest imposed on Suu Kyi had been lifted.
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