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| Monday,
October 16, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Hezbollah ‘captures’ Israeli Colonel
Statute: Lanka heads for fresh row Taliban ousted from ‘key areas’ NATO ready to arrest Milosevic |
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No seat for Jiang aide in Politburo Bush leads Gore
in opinion poll
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Hezbollah ‘captures’ Israeli Colonel BEIRUT, Oct 15 (Agencies) — Hezbollah guerrillas claimed on Sunday to have captured an Israeli army colonel. The brief statement on the Iranian-backed group’s television station offered no details. It could not be immediately confirmed. Last week, Hezbollah captured three Israeli soldiers along Lebanon’s volatile border with Israel and declared it wanted to swap them for dozens, perhaps hundreds, of Arab prisoners held in Israel. The UN has attempted to mediate in that capture, so far without success. Last week’s Hezbollah strike, observers say, inspired Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the face of what is widely seen in the Arab world as Israel’s excessive use of force in two weeks of deadly clashes. SHARM
EL-SHEIKH(Egypt): Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak held talks with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan at Sharm El-Sheikh today, a day ahead of a West Asia crisis summit in the Red Sea resort, Egypt’s official news agency said. Annan is due to attend the summit tomorrow, which officials hope will help end more than two weeks of violence gripping the West Bank, Gaza, Jerusalem and Israel. Mr Mubarak is also due to hold talks with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat later today in preparation for the summit. JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat take conflicting agendas to a summit with u.S. President Bill Clinton in Egypt tomorrow, called to end more than two weeks of violence. The one point on which both sides agree is that this is no time to be discussing the substance of an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord, which narrowly eluded them at Camp David in July. After 17 days of the fiercest violence in more than a decade, in which 99 persons, all but seven of them Palestinians, have been killed, neither leader is ready to negotiate peace. Both want the other side to stop what they regard as armed aggression, but while israel has a string of security demands, the Palestinians’ key aim is to involve the international community in protecting them. RAMALLAH: A 30-year-old Palestinian man died of his wounds today, bringing the death toll in more than two weeks of Israeli-Palestinian violence to at least 100 people. Rael Yacoub Hamoudi, of the West Bank town of Al-Bireh, died of a gunshot wound to the head, Dr Hosni Atari, Director of Ramallah hospital, told newsmen. Hamoudi was shot during clashes with Israeli soldiers four days ago, Dr Atari said. Of the 100 people killed, all but seven were Arabs. WASHINGTON: West Asia summit at last at hand. President Bill Clinton pledged to do everything he could to end the armed clashes that have wrecked his drive for a settlement between Israel and the Palestinians. After a frustrating week of trying to set up the summit which now will begin tomorrow at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, Mr Clinton said yesterday, “We expect that both parties will do all in their power to cease hostilities and halt the violence”. Apart from restoring calm as a central objective, Mr Clinton said key goals are to set up a “fact-finding mechanism” on how the violence erupted on the West Bank in Gaza, to prevent a recurrence and to find a way back to dialogue and negotiations. By drawing on Mr Mubarak and Mr Annan, Mr Clinton is reaching for maximum diplomatic assistance and reducing chances that, in the event the summit fails, blame would be focused totally on the USA. The Clinton administration, like its predecessors, long has looked to Egypt for help in promoting conciliation in the region. Still, when July’s peace talks at the Camp David presidential retreat were hung up over Jerusalem’s future, Egypt made clear it would not pressure Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to ease his demand for sovereignty over East Jerusalem. Mr Annan has been using his influence in the region to try to end the fighting and gain the release of three Israeli soldiers held by Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas. His precise role at the summit was not immediately clear yesterday. Mr Clinton laboured for eight days to curb the violence and get Israel and Palestinians back on track toward his No 1 foreign policy priority a peace accord. SYDNEY: Palestinian anger spilled onto the streets of Sydney on Sunday as a group of some 20 men broke from a 2,500-strong crowd of protesters and tried to storm the US consulate. But New South Wales police, who formed a cordon around the consulate in the heart of Sydney’s central business district, managed to force them back. The protest was organised by an umbrella group of local Palestinian, Arab and Muslim organisations in response to continued violence in the West Asia. CANBERRA: Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday urged Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to restrain violence by Palestinians in the West Asia. “If he wants to, he can stop it,” Mr Netanyahu told the Australian Television’s Nine Network. Referring to Monday’s emergency meeting to resolve the West Asia crisis, Mr Netanyahu claimed that when UN or US leaders were expected to visit for such meetings Palestinian fighters refrain from hostilities, but if the visits were cancelled, they unleash new violence. |
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Hijack crisis ends: 2 hijackers held DUBAI, Oct 15 (PTI) — The hijack of the Jeddah-London Saudi airline which also had an Indian passenger on board ended in Baghdad late last night after all 103 passengers and crew members were released unharmed and the two hijackers, both Saudis, arrested in Baghdad. The hijackers who commandeered the flight shortly after leaving Egyptian airspace first tried to land in Damascus but then ordered the flight to be taken to Saddam International Airport where they surrendered and sought political asylum in Iraq. The passengers most of whom were British also included Pakistanis and Saudis. “We are grateful to the Iraqi Government” an unidentified Pakistani told Al Jazeera satellite television as he stepped down from the plane. Speaking before the release, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official Taher Haboush, said the hijackers had said they seized the plane because they were upset over an investigation into the Saudi human rights situation that was too favourable to the government. The hijackers also said they ordered the plane to fly to Baghdad
because Iraq rejects “U.S. hegemony,” Haboush said. State television and airport officials said that the nearly seven-and-a-half hour crisis ended late yesterday after high-ranking government officials negotiated with the two hijackers, who then surrendered peacefully. The 103 passengers and crew members were reported safe after they were freed. They were spending the night at a Baghdad hotel and were expected to leave Iraq today, officials said. The passengers are expected to arrive at the Heathrow Airport at 5.40 p.m. (16.40 GMT) after a stopover in Jeddah, a report from London said. The two hijackers were later allowed to speak briefly with reporters. They praised the Iraqi authorities and criticised their own government. “We carried out the operation because we believe in the principles of justice and equality,” one said. The other said the Saudi people were against the presence of U.S. troops in their territory. The hijackers, who refused to give their names, said they haven’t asked for political asylum, countering an earlier report. They also said they don’t intend to stay in Iraq. Al-Jazeera, a Qatar-based station that broadcasts to the West Asia, also showed a few women, children and several other men descending the ramp surrounded by plainclothes security agents. A hijacker had at one point threatened to blow up the plane unless it was allowed to fly to Baghdad, Saudi officials said on condition of anonymity. Word of the hijacking first emerged in Cairo, Egypt. Egyptian civil aviation officials said the pilot radioed them at 3:55 p.m. local time to say the plane had been commandeered and the hijackers were insisting that it fly to Damascus, the Syrian capital. But the plane was denied permission to land as it neared that airport, air traffic controllers on the island of Cyprus said. The hijackers then asked to fly through Syrian airspace to Iraq, the Cypriots said. Syria initially refused but later allowed the plane to pass, Damascus air traffic controllers said, and the plane flew on to Baghdad. |
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Statute: Lanka heads for fresh row COLOMBO, Oct 15 (PTI) — Sri Lanka is heading for yet another bout of confrontation over President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s constitutional reforms proposal and the escalation of war with the LTTE as the country this week voted a hung parliament, with a large representation to political parties with divergent political interests and affiliations. Though the two mainstream parties, the ruling People’s Alliance (PA) and its arch-rival the Opposition United National Party (UNP), marginally improved their number of seats in the election, the rest of the new parliament consisted of extreme Left and Right-wing parties with varied political backgrounds. From the Sinhalese-dominated south, the ultra Left-wing Jantha Vimukti Perumuna (JVP), which led a bloody armed revolt 12 years ago, emerged as a third force by winning 10 seats. Similarly, Right-wing Sinhala Urumaya, backed by Buddhist monks, made its debut by winning a seat. Under such a scenario, the stability of the President’s new government entirely depended on two pro-reform and anti-LTTE Tamil and Muslim parties. The PA, which won 107 seats in the 225-member parliament, formed the ministry with the backing of a self-proclaimed anti-LTTE political party, the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and the National Unity Alliance (NUA). The SLMC and the EPDP, which won 12 and five seats, respectively, will provide a three-seat majority to the PA. Both SLMC and the EPDP have made adoption and implementation of the new constitution as their main demand to support the government. SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem threatened to withdraw support to the PA if it failed to bring in the new constitution within its first 100 days in office. EPDP spokesman Thavarajah said his party’s main demand was to bring the new constitution, which his party believed could considerably improve the living conditions of Tamils. Significantly, barring the EPDP, other Tamil parties who won seats in the election were not concerned about the constitution. The Tamil United National Front (TULF), which won five seats from the north-east said the constitution was not a main issue as it was already opposed by the LTTE. |
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Taliban ousted from ‘key areas’ KABUL, Oct 15 (AFP) — Afghan Opposition forces ousted Taliban troops from several key areas in a counter-offensive in the Northeastern province of Takhar bordering Tajikistan, Opposition spokesman Mohammad Habeel said today. Forces loyal to former Defence Minister Ahmad Shah Masood had seized control of Khwajaghar district in Takhar as well as Imam Saheb and Dasht-i-Archi towns in the nearby Kunduz province in an operation overnight, he said. “Our attack started at dusk yesterday. First we took control of Khwajaghar district,” habeel said. “We took 50 Taliban soldiers prisoners together with their 20 vehicles and several tanks.” After heavy fighting Masood’s supporters entered the town of Imam Saheb to the north of Kunduz city and overran vast areas in the adjacent district of Dasht-i-Archi, he added. The spokesman said the Taliban launched several counter-attacks in a bid to retake the lost territory but were unsuccessful. The Taliban, which holds most of the country, had flushed out Masood supporters from the three districts after capturing Taloqan, capital of Takhar province in renewed fighting in September. Habeel said heavy fighting was still raging around Khwajaghar as the ruling Taliban soldiers were trying to retake the dusty district which has a workable air-strip. |
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NATO ready to arrest Milosevic SARAJEVO, Oct 15 (Reuters) — NATO-led peacekeeping troops are ready to arrest former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic if he attempts to escape Yugoslavia via Bosnia, the head of the stabilisation force (SFOR) was quoted as saying today. But US Lieut-Gen Michael Dodson told the daily Oslobodjenje, that according to available information, Milosevic was expected to remain in Serbia for the time being. Milosevic, who was ousted from power after September 24 elections through popular protests, was indicted in 1999 by the UN war crimes tribunal for alleged crimes committed against ethnic Albanians in the Serbian province of Kosovo. “Our soldiers have everything they need to recognise him (Milosevic) and during their routine activities they would detain him”, General Dodson told the daily in an interview. |
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No seat for Jiang aide in Politburo BEIJING, Oct 15 (PTI) — Chinese President Jiang Zemin’s camp has suffered a jolt at the just-concluded Communist party plenum when his protege Zeng Quighong was not elevated to the Politburo, indicating the opposition within the ruling inner circle to cronyism, analysts here said. Zeng, a top aide to Mr Jiang, who is also General Secretary of the
Communist Party of China (CPC), was expected to be promoted to become a member of the Politburo at the fifth plenum of the 15th Central Committee of the
CPC, which ended here on October 11. “Zeng’s failure is a sign that President Jiang is not all-powerful and he is facing stiff resistance from party elders who may want Vice-President Hu Jintao as the next party chief,’’ an analyst said. Meanwhile, the proposed visit of Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji to India is unlikely to take place this year due to his busy schedule, official sources said here today. New Delhi has been pressing Beijing to agree on Mr Zhu’s visit within the year which would have capped India’s highly successful diplomatic engagement with major powers, including the USA, Russia and Japan. “Due to scheduling Problems Premier Zhu is unlikely to visit India this year,” an official source told PTI, adding that both sides were now looking for a convenient date sometime early next year. |
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Bush leads Gore
in opinion poll WASHINGTON, Oct 15 (PTI) — Republican candidate George Bush leads Democratic candidate and Vice-President Al Gore by five points in a presidential election to be held on November 7, the latest opinion polls have indicated. Among the likely voters, Bush has the support of 48 per cent and Gore has 43 per cent, the TIME/CNN poll said yesterday, adding that most of the people surveyed see the Texas Governor, Bush, as being more honest and trustworthy than Gore to be President. |
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