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| Tuesday, October 24, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Barak’s time out of talks; may take Sharon in
unity govt Albright extends talks with Kim
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| Estrada impeach move set in motion MANILA, Oct 23 — The Philippine Lower House formally set in motion today an impeachment case against President Joseph Estrada and promised speedy hearings to find out if it was true he took bribes from gambling syndicates. Gore cuts Bush lead to 2
per cent Divers make hole in
‘Kursk’ hull Young shoplifters ‘target’ shoes, ties,
belts Militants reinstate Hizb
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Barak’s time out of talks; may take Sharon in CAIRO, Oct 23 — Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, yesterday (Sunday) capped weeks of blood and rage by turning his back on the seven-year quest for peace, declaring a “time-out” in negotiations with the Palestinians. The announcement was delivered only minutes after an emergency Arab League summit in Cairo denounced the Jewish state as barbarian, and pledged financial support to a Palestinian Intifada. Mr Barak met scorn from the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, who told him “to go to hell”, setting the stage for further confrontation between the two masters of brinkmanship. The emergency summit in Cairo agreed $1bn backing for the Palestinians and called on all Arabs to donate one day’s wages “as a popular Arab contribution to the Intifada and support for the national Palestinian struggle”. With the peace process now clinically dead, Mr Barak is again toying with the idea of “unilateral separation”, carving out a Palestinian state whose borders with Israel would be sealed by concrete walls and electrified fences. Mr Arafat, in turn, is weighing the possibility of a unilateral declaration of independence, on or after November 15, an act that would meet harsh Israeli reprisals. Such high-wire machinations are the product of political instincts. Mr Barak’s survival can be guaranteed for just 10 more days. If he does not woo the hawkish Likud party leader, Ariel Sharon, into a national emergency government, he faces dismissal when Israel’s parliament returns at the end of the month. Mr Sharon has made his price for joining the government abundantly clear: dump the peace process. Yesterday (Sunday), Mr Barak acquiesced. But Mr Barak and his aides tried to obscure such harsh realities, choosing to portray his decision as a suspension, and not the definitive end to negotiation efforts. They also refused to say how long the “time-out” would last, leaving the door slightly ajar for yet another diplomatic foray by the USA, perhaps after the American elections. Instead, they placed the blame for the suspension of negotiations squarely on the Palestinians and the Arabs. “After the Arab summit, and in light of its results, we will have to call a time-out, the goal of which will be to reassess the diplomatic process in light of the events of recent weeks,” said a statement from Mr Barak’s office. Reviled throughout the Arab world for his role in the massacre of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon nearly two decades ago, Mr Sharon is seen as a symbol of opposition to the principle Mr Barak pursued of trading land for peace. It was Mr Sharon’s provocative visit to the Haram al-Sharif site on September 28 that ignited weeks of bloody mayhem that have left 120 dead. Still, Mr Barak has been wooing Mr Sharon to join a national emergency government. The Likud leader admitted yesterday (Sunday) that he would enlist if Mr Barak abandoned seven years of peacemaking. Instead of a settlement with the Palestinians that would lead to a state, Mr Sharon told Israel Radio he supported talks towards “a long-term interim agreement that will keep strategic points in our hands”. That is a rejection of the concessions Mr Barak offered at Camp David. Mr Barak’s change of heart is the product of hard logic. With his popular support sinking to an all-time low, and rumbles of rebellion against his leadership within the Labour Party, the prime minister has few remaining options. Mr Barak was adamant that his time-out was “dictated by common sense”. With the violence unabated in the West Bank and Gaza, despite two US-mediated ceasefires, he said there was no point in an immediate resumption of negotiations with the Palestinians. In renewed unrest yesterday (Sunday), four Palestinians were killed, including a 14-year-old boy in Gaza. But while there is little end to the violence, Mr Barak’s declaration is fiercely opposed even by members of his own cabinet. They see the time-out as a prelude to forming an emergency government with Mr Sharon within the next few days, an outcome that would destroy the last shreds of Palestinian trust in the Israeli Prime Minister. Mr Barak’s aides insisted yesterday (Sunday) that he did not need the government’s approval for his decision — and he might not have received it. At the Camp David summit last July, Mr Barak shattered powerful taboos by offering Mr Arafat control over far-flung suburbs of Arab East Jerusalem, occupied by Israel since 1967. — The Guardian, London |
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Albright extends talks with Kim PYONGYANG, Oct 23 (Reuters, AP) — Breaking the last barriers of the cold war, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright held talks with North Korea’s Kim Jong-il today and said Washington was taking a measured approach to rapprochement with the secretive Communist state. “No, it is very measured,’’ Ms Albright told reporters who noted some quarters believed the USA may be moving too fast. “We are not going to go faster than it makes sense in terms of U.S. interests.’’ A smiling Kim, in a display reminiscent of his welcome for rival South Korea’s President Kim Dae-jung at their epochal June summit, greeted Ms Albright warmly before they settled into talks which went on for much longer than expected. “I am really very happy,’’ said the reclusive Korean leaders as he met a U.S. Cabinet member for the first time ever. A U.S. State Department official said Mr Albright and Mr Kim talked initially for two hours, took a 10- minute break, then met for another session for a further hour. Although no details were available of the tone and substance of the discussions, Kim suddenly decided to take over as host of a dinner arranged for Albright by Vice- Marshal Jo Myong-rok, Vice-Chairman of the National Defence Commission and the highest ranking North Korean ever to go to Washington. The Korean strongman thanked Albright for arranging a meeting with President Bill Clinton for Vice- Marshal Jo. “There was no dispute between our countries everything went smoothly,’’ Kim said, referring to Jo’s recent Washington trip. The talks were another step in North Korea’s efforts to enter the world stage. Within the past year, Kim has also met the Presidents of China, Russia and South Korea. Ms Albright hopes to use her two-day visit to advance her goal of a tension-free north-east Asia for the first time in decades and to lay the groundwork for a visit by US President Bill Clinton, possibly as early as next month. The meeting with Kim was the centerpiece of Albright’s trip. “This is a new one from a historical point of view,” Mr Kim said of the visit. “ Shaking the North Korean leader’s hand, Ms Albright said, “I’m very glad to be here in your beautiful city.”
The two met at the luxury guest house where Albright was staying. |
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Jakarta court frees Timor
militia chief JAKARTA, Oct 23 (Reuters) — An Indonesian court today ordered the police to free notorious Timorese militia leader Eurico Guterres — whose arrest had been urged by several foreign governments — after it ruled that his arrest was unlawful. Guterres was arrested over the violence that led to the slaughter of three UN workers in West Timor last month. Foreign donors had warned Jakarta that vital aid would be at risk if it failed to punish those responsible. “The court hereby declares the arrest and detention of Eurico Guterres unlawful and orders his release from police detention,” presiding judge Putra Jatnya told the South Jakarta Court today. Guterres’ lawyers had argued that the police did not have a valid warrant when they arrested him in Jakarta. The UN administration ruling Guterres’ homeland of East Timor also wants him handed over for questioning over two massacres in which scores of civilians were butchered before last year’s independence poll. But Jakarta has so far refused to comply. |
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Estrada impeach move set in motion MANILA, Oct 23 (Reuters) — The Philippine Lower House formally set in motion today an impeachment case against President Joseph Estrada and promised speedy hearings to find out if it was true he took bribes from gambling syndicates. “The nation cannot afford a circus-like exchange of bitter accusations from both sides so we have to resolve this in the soonest possible time,” said House Speaker Manuel Villar, a member of
Estrada’s ruling coalition. “We are here to get to the bottom of all allegations so the whole truth may be known... Let us allow the truth to come out so justice will prevail,” he added. Villar set the impeachment case rolling by formally including it in the order of business of the House of Representatives, which means the House Committee on Justice could begin hearing the bribery and corruption charges against the beleaguered former movie actor. Lawmakers and analysts have said the impeachment proceedings are certain to set off bitter debates in Congress lasting months, heightening political turmoil which will deeply divide the country and further damage an already prostrate economy. The bribery scandal has sparked almost daily street protests against Estrada and calls for him to step down. It has also savaged financial markets. “I will not allow partisan political interests to dominate proceedings,” Villar said in a statement. “It is not in the streets, in newspapers or on radio and television that this very important issue, on which the future of our country depends will, be resolved.” He urged the justice committee to hold sessions even during the congressional recess from October 27 to November 12 to speed up the impeachment process. Estrada denied allegations that he took $ 8.5 million in payoffs from gambling syndicates running an illegal numbers game called “jueteng” and vowed to fight the impeachment case. He also rejected church calls for him to resign. |
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Gore cuts Bush lead to 2 per cent WASHINGTON, Oct 23 (Reuters) — Republican George W. Bush’s lead over Democrat Al Gore has narrowed to two per cent in the seesaw U.S. presidential race, according to the Reuters/MSNBC daily tracking poll released today. Fifteen days before the November 7 election, support stands at 44 per cent for the Texas Governor and 42 per cent for the Vice-President in the poll of 1,204 likely voters conducted Friday through Sunday by pollster John Zogby. Gore had been trailing by 4 points but had a stronger day of polling yesterday. The result remains well within the margin of error of plus or minus three points in one of the closest presidential races in decades. Green party nominee Ralph Nader polled 5 per cent. “Bush leads by one point in the two-way match-up, but it becomes a two-point lead when you include Nader,” said Zogby. According to the CNN-USA gallup poll, Republican candidate George W Bush has established a lead of nine points over his Democratic opponent and Vice-President Al Gore. Mr Al Gore’s support is low, partly because he is on the unfavourable side of a historically high gender gap with just 33 per cent of men currently favouring Mr Al Gore, compared to 56 per cent for Mr Bush. |
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Divers make hole in
‘Kursk’ hull OSLO, Oct 23 Reuters, AFP) — Norwegian radiation experts said on today there was no sign of radioactive leaks from the sunken Russian nuclear submarine “Kursh” but that testing would continue as divers moved closer to the vessel’s reactor. The Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority had cleared the way for a Russian-led team of divers to start work to retrieve the remains of the 118 crew of the vessel which sank in the Barents Sea in August. “We are fairly sure that the submarine is not leaking, but we will continue testing samples of water, sediments and air,”. Per Strand, director of the radiation authority’s
environmental protection unit, told newsmen. Russian and Norwegian divers today started to cut a manhole in the hull in the
wreck’s eighth compartment, located in the rear and of the submarine and away from the reactor near the front. Meanwhile, divers with underwater blow torches sliced through the hull of “Kursk” as they battled to recover the bodies of 118 sailors form the wreck. If all goes to plan, the team of Russian, Norwegian and British divers could enter the submarine by tomorrow and begin the delicate operation of extricating the dead seamen, he said. However, work could be suspended if weather conditions deteriorate sharply, a Northern Fleet spokesman warned. |
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Young shoplifters ‘target’ shoes, ties, belts SINGAPORE, Oct 23 (DPA) — Youthful shoplifters are particularly keen on fashion items from Singapore departmental stores and concentrate on afternoon hours for their light-fingered prowls, a study showed today. About 58 per cent of juvenile shoplifters hit department stores, with Takashimaya the favourite, on the poshest belts. Supermarkets and pharmacies follow at 17 per cent and 14 per cent respectively. The study conducted by the Subordinate Courts and published in The Straits Times examined the backgrounds of juveniles who appeared for shoplifting offences from January 1998 to March 1999. Clothing, undergarments, ties, shoes and belts were the most common items stolen accounting for 30.3 per cent. Wallets and bags were next at 25.3 per cent followed by toiletries and cosmetics at 19.2 per cent. Compact discs and related accessories accounted for 13.1 per cent. Fifty-six per cent of shoplifting incidents occur in the afternoon compared with 32 per cent in the evenings and 12 per cent in the mornings. More than half took place on weekdays, usually after school, and male offenders accounted for 58.6 per cent of the cases. The majority, or 65.7 per cent, were Chinese with Malays coming in second at 28.3 per cent, the study said. Militants reinstate Hizb ISLAMABAD, Oct 23 (AP) — The militant outfit, Hizb-ul Mujahedeen, ostracised by fellow rebels after agreeing to a cease-fire with India, was returned today to the fold. The United Jehad Council, an organisation representing 15 guerrilla groups active in Kashmir reinstated Hizb-ul Mujahedeen at an emergency meeting today. The council also allowed Hizb-ul Mujahedeen chief Syed Salahuddin to return as council chairman. “The United Jehad Council is satisfied with the activities of Hizb-ul Mujahedeen workers and has restored the membership of Hizb-ul Mujahedeen,” said a statement issued by the United Jehad Council. The Hizb-ul-Mujahedeen cease-fire collapsed after two weeks when Indian refused to accept Pakistan at the negotiation table. India said it would talk to the militant groups, but would not open negotiations with Pakistan until it stopped assistance to the 11-year insurgency in Kashmir. Pakistan denies giving direct assistance to the militants, but is sympathetic to their cause and offers moral and political support. However, the militant groups all have headquarters in Pakistan. A large gathering of Lashkar-e-Toiba, another militant group, was held last weekend in Karachi. At that meeting, demonstrations were given of mock ambushes of Indian soldiers. |
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