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| Friday,
January 26, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Confusion over Kabila’s swearing in India-bound shipment
stopped Pak must ‘respond’ to truce extension Powell orders
review of sanctions Reid to succeed
Mandelson |
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Putin slashes
India’s arms bills Top Myanmar Oppn
leader, 19 others freed Philippines Defence Secy quits SC allows Barak to carry on talks Nepal minister resigns Duma restricts ex-Presidents’
immunity
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Confusion over Kabila’s swearing in KINSHASA, Jan 25 — Confusion surrounded the planned swearing-in of Joseph Kabila as president of Democratic Republic of Congo a day after Parliament cleared the way for him to succeed his slain father. Congo’s Information Minister said the ceremony might not take place on Thursday. “The swearing-in will probably not take place today. He has been invested by Parliament but he must still take his oath before an audience of the Supreme Court,” Mr Dominique Sakombi told newsmen. Another cabinet minister, however, said he thought the oath-taking would go ahead later in the day as planned. “In principle it should be today,” the minister said. The swearing-in had been initially planned for Wednesday but was then delayed while Parliament approved Joseph’s appointment with a unanimous vote. Mr Sakombi did not say why the ceremony might be put off again, but added a statement would be made on radio and television. Joseph (31), was chosen by the government last week to replace his father, Laurent Kabila, who was shot by one of his own bodyguards on January 16 as he sat in his office. Congolese newspapers reported the Supreme Court was still pondering the appropriate legal text to swear in Kabila as president. The opposition La Tempete des Tropiques said the constitutional decree which brought Kabila to power in 1997 did not include any provision for a succession. Joseph’s appointment has unnerved many Congolese, who say it is tantamount to making the country a monarchy. Members of Parliament on Wednesday cleared the way for the younger Kabila to lead the mineral-rich country, which has been beset by conflict since his father joined a bush war in 1996 and ended the rule of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko the following year. The assembly also passed a motion declaring Laurent Kabila a national hero. Joseph is a Major-General and headed his father’s army in a war for control of the mineral-rich former Zaire against rebels backed by Uganda and Rwanda, Kabila’s former friends who turned against him. Fighting on Congo’s side are Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia. Suspicions that Congo’s enemies were involved in a plot to kill Kabila were raised on Wednesday by an adviser to the President-designate. “Some ramifications that we have discovered after the first questionings show that a foreign hand, an enemy hand, cunningly prepared the assassination,” Constantin Nono Lutula told reporters in Togo. He gave no details after meeting Togo’s President Gnassingbe Eyadema, current chairman of the Organisation of African Unity. In Luanda, Angolan state radio said the European Union special envoy for the great lakes region would discuss measures to end the bloody conflict — which has been labelled Africa’s first world war — with president Jose Eduardo dos Santos, one of Kabila’s allies. Fighting has raged on despite a peace accord reached in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, in 1999, under which all foreign armies were to withdraw eventually and all Congolese factions were to sit down together to discuss the country’s future. While military sources said Congo’s African allies had sent up to 6,200 new troops to key towns to counter any fighting after Kabila’s death, the same allies have at the same time been applying pressure for a deal to end the fighting. Western countries and the United Nations have also been trying to get Joseph Kabila to make sure the peace process is put on track. “The Lusaka accords are outdated and they have to be reviewed. The Congolese people will say no to Joseph if he universally accepts them,” Dr Jean Nunga, a professor of political science and member of parliament, told newsmen. |
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India-bound shipment stopped PORTLAND (Maine), Jan 25 (AP) — A 20-ton cargo of mercury from the USA that was bound for India has apparently been stopped in Egypt, at least for the time being, government officials and environmental activists said yesterday. The shipment was part of the more than 130 tons of mercury that was removed from a plant in Orrington, which closed last September after coming under fire because of mercury emissions. The plant, 300 km northeast of Boston, was owned by Holtra Chem Manufacturing Co., which was liquidated last year. The 20 tons of mercury were being shipped from New York to India for use in medical instruments and other manufacturing processes. It was not immediately known who owned or shipped the mercury. The status of the cargo also was not known. Activists have criticised the transaction as an example of US dumping of toxic materials in underdeveloped countries. At a time when mercury use in developed countries is being phased out, the USA has continued to export the toxic metal to third world countries, said Michael Bender, executive director of the Mercury Policy Project in Montpelier, Vermont. A source at the State Department disputed the allegation of toxic dumping, saying that the mercury shipment was a commercial transaction between businesses in the USA and India and that the shipment was legal under Indian law. Mr Bender and officials at the Environmental Protection Agency and the State Department said they understood that the mercury shipment was halted in Port Said, Egypt, but it was not clear what prompted the decision. Officials at the EPA said the mercury shipment was not regarded as hazardous under the agency’s regulations. |
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Pak must ‘respond’ to truce extension ISLAMABAD, Jan 25
(AFP) — Pakistan’s military regime should give a more positive response to the extension of India’s ceasefire this week or risk losing the new diplomatic war over Kashmir, media analysts said today. Editorials in the two major English dailies here urged the government of Gen Pervez Musharraf to roll with India’s diplomatic punches rather than stand flat-footed in the fight for world opinion. “This is not an issue to be shrugged off through a casual but usual foreign office response which repeats the well-known position of Pakistan,” The News daily wrote. “There is little doubt left that our reactions fail to match the impact of the strategy (of India).” Pakistan has responded to Tuesday’s ceasefire extension by accusing India of regularly violating its undertaking to suspend military operations against armed Muslim separatist groups. It also repeated the line shared by the militants and Islamabad that the ceasefire would only be meaningful if it was backed by three-way dialogue involving Pakistan, India and the Kashmiris. “Pakistan has to match India’s moves on the chessboard of Kashmir. It cannot afford to be checkmated,” the news said. A leader in Pakistan-administered Kashmir has also called for Islamabad to “go a step beyond (its position in Kashmir) to ensure that there is no reversal of the peace
process.” Sardar Abdul Qayyum, former President of the Pakistani zone of Kashmir, said Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee “deserves full credit for extending the ceasefire.” But Pakistani Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar said yesterday that peace process could not move forward until India agrees to allow a team of Kashmiri separatist leaders to visit Islamabad for talks. He said Pakistan was committed to peace in Kashmir but was increasingly concerned by India’s wavering over the proposed visit by the Hurriyat Conference leaders. Powell orders
review of sanctions WASHINGTON, Jan 25 (AFP) — US Secretary of State Colin Powell has ordered a broad review of the US economic and trade sanctions imposed on various countries, including India, with an eye toward possibly eliminating a substantial number of them except where Iraq is concerned, the State Department said. “We are looking at the multiple and long list of sanctions that exist in law and elsewhere”, spokesman Richard Boucher said yesterday. “The process is under way to look at these things and figure out how to approach the issue, but there aren’t any results or conclusions at this point”, he told reporters. However, Mr Boucher said that sanctions in place against Iraq would not fall under this review, but rather under a separate study aimed at “re-energising” restrictions against Baghdad. Mr Powell has expressed frustration with the myriad punitive restrictions and certification processes that the USA has put in place against dozens of countries. India is still subject to restrictions imposed following its 1998 nuclear tests and Mexico, along with other Latin American countries, must still be certified annually as cooperating with the drug war in order to receive the aid. Last week at his confirmation hearing before a Senate panel, Mr Powell told lawmakers that while “noble” in purpose, the imposition of sanctions to change a country’s behaviour can often become hypocritical. |
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Reid to succeed Mandelson LONDON, Jan 25 (Reuters) — Scottish Secretary John Reid will take over from Mr Peter Mandelson as Britain’s Northern Ireland Secretary, the Downing Street announced. Mr Mandelson, a key ally to Prime Minister Tony Blair, resigned from the government earlier in the day yesterday after becoming embroiled in a passport scandal. Mr Reid, who is 53, was seen leaving Mr Blair’s London home in the Downing Street, triggering speculation that he will take over at the helm of the troubled province, where political wrangling is threatening the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement. A Downing Street spokesman said Ms Helen Liddell of the Department of Trade and Industry would take over from Mr Reid at the Scottish Office, and her position would be filled by Mr Peter Hain, a minister at the Foreign Office. Mr Brian Wilson, Minister of State for Scotland, would move into Mr Hain’s position, and his successor would be named today, the spokesman added. Putin slashes
India’s arms bills MOSCOW, Jan 25 (PTI) — Russian President Vladimir Putin, who took the “political decision” to award 20 per cent equity in the Sakhalin-1 offshore oil block to the ONGC-Videsh Limited under the production sharing arrangement (PSA), has slashed India’s arms bills to offset New Delhi’s possible risks in the project. Putin has slashed the prices of “T-90s” and “Sukhoi” deals with India by $ 320 m and $ 700 m respectively, the Russian daily published jointly by the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times reported quoting sources in the government and ‘Rosneft’ company. Under the deal, which is in its final stages, the ONGC-Videsh Limited is to acquire half of the 40 per cent equity of the Russian oil giant ‘Rosneft’ in the project in exchange for footing the Russian company’s past and future bills to the tune of $ 1 b, the Moscow Business Daily “Vedomosti” reported. Since the exploration of Sakhalin-1 oil block has so far failed to give a clear picture of its economic viability. Currently, the US oil giant Exxon-Mobil and Japanese “Sodeco” are Rosneft’s partners in the Sakhalin-1 project, which is expected to start production in year 2005 and would require a total investment of dollar four billion. |
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Top Myanmar Oppn
leader, 19 others freed YANGON, Jan 25 (AFP, Reuters) — Myanmar’s junta has released a senior opposition figure and 19 young democracy activists in an apparent goodwill gesture ahead of a European union delegation’s arrival here next week, sources said today. National League for Democracy (NLD) Vice-Chairman U Tin Oo was taken late yesterday from the military base outside Yangon, and taken to his home in the capital, an NLD source said. “This is welcome news and we feel that this may be a gesture of goodwill ahead of the European Union delegation’s visit later this month ,” he said, referring to the January 29-31 mission. “We hope that more will follow.” The Opposition source said the political atmosphere in Myanmar had improved significantly since the UN announced earlier this month that a senior General had held face-to-face talks with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. “We are feeling much less pressure from the authorities now,” he said. The talks appear to be paving the way for a landmark dialogue between the two sides that would end a damaging decade-long impasse. Earlier, Tin Oo was taken home late yesterday after being kept since September in a “government guest house”. But, reporters who tried to visit his home yesterday were turned away by the security personnel. Suu Kyi and Tin Oo tried to travel to the town of Mandalay by rail in late September, prompting a crackdown by the authorities. They were prevented from boarding any train, and Tin Oo was taken into detention, while Suu Kyi was placed under de facto house arrest. Recent weeks have seen signs of a softening in the military government’s treatment of the NLD. Cartoons and articles attacking the NLD in official media have suddenly stopped, and this week Suu Kyi unexpectedly won a court case over ownership of her Yangon residence. Suu Kyi, however, remains confined to her residence, with access to her tightly controlled. European Union diplomats say they have been assured the delegation will be allowed to meet her during their visit. |
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Philippines Defence Secy quits MANILA, Jan 25 (DPA) — The Philippines Defence Secretary today resigned from the new administration of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo after a retired General facing graft charges in court was appointed as National Security Adviser. Mr Orlando Mercado said at a news conference that he quit because he could not work with retired military chief Lisandro Abadia, who had been charged with mismanaging a retirement and benefits fund for the country’s soldiers. “How can I serve in the Cabinet together with the National Security Adviser when I initiated the investigation against him and up to this time the charges are still pending in the courts,’’ he said. “I feel uncomfortable.’’ “The Defence Secretary and the National Security Adviser should be a team,’’ he added. “It will just create problems if I stay on.’’ In a separate news conference, Ms Arroyo said she has not yet accepted the resignation of Mr Mercado, a holdover from the administration of deposed President Joseph Estrada. She did not comment on the fact that Mr Mercado resigned over Abadia’s appointment, saying, that “He told me that since he would have resigned anyway in a few days (to run for the Senate in the May election), then it’s just doing it earlier.’’ Mr Mercado’s resignation was the first sign of discord within the five-day-old government of Ms Arroyo, who was swept into power by a military-backed “people power’’ uprising that overthrew Estrada on Saturday. Ms Arroyo had not yet completed her Cabinet lineup, but there already was criticism about some of her choices. Several organisations that helped put her in the country’s top post had also complained that she failed to consult them. |
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SC allows Barak to carry on talks JERUSALEM, Jan 25 (DPA) — The highest Israeli court today gave the go-ahead to Prime Minister Ehud Barak to continue peace talks with the Palestinians. The judges turned down an injunction sought by government critics who wanted to prevent Barak, who has resigned and remains acting Premier, from continuing talks on a permanent peace agreement. Barak had decided late last night to continue talks in the Egyptian resort of Taba, which were began on Sunday night. The judges ruled that an acting head of government must use restraint in conducting negotiations but must also safeguard “continuity and stability”. Palestinian sources said there has been clear progress at the talks, which were suspended at short notice on Tuesday. Palestinian chief negotiator Nabil Shaath was quoted by Israeli army radio as saying the two sides were nearly in agreement on the future borders of the proposed Palestinian state, leaving only 4 per cent of currently occupied land under Israeli control. The radio said the sides had agreed that over the next 20 years Israel would admit a total of 100,000 Palestinian refugees. |
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Nepal minister resigns KATHMANDU, Jan 25 (DPA) — The Nepalese Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism, Mr Tarani Datta Chataut, resigned today following calls for his resignation over his alleged involvement in a controversial aircraft lease deal. Under a lease deal signed between the state owned and operated Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation and Austrian Airlines, Lauda Air, the former has acquired a Boeing 767 plane at a cost of $ 3,300 per flying hour. Under the deal, the Nepalese Airline had guaranteed Lauda Air a minimum 300 flying hours per month. An announcement by the Nepalese Royal Palace today morning said King Birendra accepted the minister’s resignation at the recommendation of the Prime Minister and that the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Mr Ram Krishna Tamrakar, will look after the Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry. |
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Duma restricts ex-Presidents’
immunity MOSCOW, Jan 25 (AP) — Russian lawmakers today gave final approval to a bill that limits former Presidents’ immunity from prosecution and may spell future problems for Boris Yeltsin, whose administration has been accused of corruption. The Kremlin then submitted a bill to Parliament in an effort to enshrine the decree in law. The bill was passed at the third reading by 280 members of the 450-seat Duma, with 130 votes against. The law allows the Russian Prosecutor-General to request that both Houses of Parliament vote to lift immunity if a former president is suspected of a serious crime, such as murder, robbery, rape or large-scale theft. |
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