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April 20, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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UN convoy delayed in
Gaza, lodges protest No appeal against Gusinsky ruling Spy plane talks productive, says USA China thanks India for support on rights USA ‘may
declare Pak terrorist state’
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Rocca Powell’s aide for S. Asia Punjabi traders duped in China Asian boom in America
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UN convoy delayed in Gaza, lodges protest Gaza, April 19 Mr Peter Hansen, the General-Commissioner for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), told Reuters that Israeli soldiers on tanks delayed a convoy heading to the Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza. The soldiers later let the convoy through. An Israeli army spokesman said the soldiers had delayed Mr Hansen because he had not coordinated the trip as required. “The Israeli army allows all humanitarian groups, and of course the UN, free passage in the Gaza Strip but asks for prior coordination. Today there was no coordination, but they were allowed after a delay,” the spokesman said. On the way back from Rafah to Gaza City, a UN official said the convoy was again delayed at two separate checkpoints. Mr Hansen said he had already spoken with officials in the Israel’s army headquarters in Tel Aviv and planned to file a “detailed complaint” with the government. “I have asked for an explanation but they have not provided anything. They were just refusing to let us through,” Mr Hansen said on telephone after arriving in Rafah to inspect UNRWA’s food distribution to Palestinian refugees.
Reuters Suzanne Goldenberg of the Guardian adds: The Israeli government ordered a further incursion into Gaza on Wednesday, attempting to demonstrate that it had not caved in after Washington criticised it for using excessive force in the Palestinian territory the previous day. Armoured Israeli bulldozers smashed into a police post near the airport as Ariel Sharon’s spin doctors declared that the Prime Minister had not succumbed to pressure from Washington on Tuesday, when he abruptly halted the reoccupation of land near the town of Beit Hanoun in the north of the Gaza Strip. The USA called it an “excessive and disproportionate” response to the Palestinian mortar attacks on Jewish settlements in the territory. Soon afterwards the Israeli army was ordered to pull out, though its commander in Gaza Strip, Brigadier-General Yair Navehhad, had said that the tanks would stay near Beit Hanoun indefinitely. Mr Sharon’s spokesman said the General had spoken out of turn. Other officials said he was simply kept out of the loop by the army chief of staff. But these explanations left military officials incredulous and bitter. They accused Mr Sharon of making a senior officer his scapegoat. “There was a great deal of astonishment at the Prime Minister’s orders to withdraw after only one day,” a senior officer told the newspaper Yediot Ahronoth on Wednesday. “Our plans of operation were based on the assessment that we would be there at least a week.” Amid this new destruction, the Palestinians were savouring a rare moment of Israeli discomfiture, saying that Mr Sharon had committed a blunder by imagining that Washington would overlook a reoccupation in Gaza which would, in effect, demolish the last remains of the 1993 Oslo peace accords, which Washington sponsored. “The tough US position forced the politically stupid Sharon to order his army to retreat with their heads in the ground,” said a Palestinian negotiator, Hassan Asfour. But Israelis were more forgiving. Although Mr Sharon faced withering criticism from settlers, who said he had sold out to Washington, most Israelis were simply relieved that their soldier sons would not be bogged down in Gaza, as they were in the 18-year occupation which followed the invasion of Lebanon orchestrated by Mr Sharon in 1982. “We were very relieved that he pulled out,” said Mr Yael Dayan, a peace activist and Labour member of parliament, who is the daughter of the legendary General Moshe
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No appeal against Gusinsky ruling Madrid, April 19 The decision by the prosecutor all but frees Gusinsky from criminal proceedings in Spain. “I believe that the appeal would not prosper because the arguments in the ruling which denied the extradition of Gusinsky are very solid,” said prosecutor Eduardo Fungairino, who has been acting on behalf of the Russian authorities. Gusinsky, who was arrested in December, says the fraud charges against him are politically motivated and an attempt to silence his Media-Most organisation which has been critical of the Kremlin. The High Court rejected the request for his extradition saying the alleged offences did not represent a crime in Spain. “This is fantastic news,” said Gusinsky’s lawyer Domingo Plazas shortly after the prosecutor announced he would not appeal. Plazas said Gusinsky’s travel movements remained restricted under the terms of Wednesday’s ruling, but the businessman would probably be a free man again by Saturday when a three-day period for any appeals to the ruling expired. BERLIN: A group of German lawmakers urged gas giant Ruhrgas on Thursday to use its five per cent stake in Gazprom to persuade the state-run Russian gas monopoly not to interfere with the country’s independent media. The four parliamentarians, representing each of the main parties, said the Essen-based Ruhrgas should impress on its Russian partner the importance of media freedom in a democracy and advise it to concentrate on its core energy business. “Freedom of opinion is a more sensitive commodity than natural gas,” Reinhard Loske of the SPD’s junior coalition partner, the Greens, told the Berliner Zeitung. “Ruhrgas should suggest Gazprom concentrate on its core business.”
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Spy plane talks productive, says USA Beijing, April 19 After nearly two hours of talks today, Mr Peter Verga, the Chief US negotiator, said, “We covered all items on the agenda and I found today’s session to be very productive.” Earlier, it had appeared that the US delegation was ready to break off the talks due to lack of progress yesterday. But China agreed to discuss the return of the US plane, which had been the main sticking point for the USA, Mr Verga said before the talks resumed today. “Based on our understanding that we will be able to complete all of the items on the agenda for the meeting that we agreed upon earlier, to include the development of a plan for the prompt recovery and return of our EP-3 aircraft, we have decided to go ahead and continue the meetings,” Mr Verga told reporters. Mr Verga’s delegation left today morning to resume the talks at the Foreign Ministry, a US Embassy official said. The agreement followed a meeting between US Ambassador Joseph Prueher and Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan to discuss how the talks between the two military and diplomatic teams could go forward. The talks ended yesterday after less than three hours, with few signs of compromise on either side.
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China thanks India for support on rights Beijing, April 19 “The Chinese government wishes to express admiration and thanks to all the countries which upheld justice and supported China in foiling an anti-China motion,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said in a statement. India is among the 23 countries that voted in favour of a “no action” procedural motion moved by China. With 23 votes for, 17 against, 12 abstentions and one absentee, the 53-member United Nations Human Rights Commission approved the Chinese motion, thus rejecting the US draft resolution against China before it was put to the vote. Elated at the outcome of the voting, China noted that it was the 10th time that an anti-China motion on human rights had been rejected since 1990. “We would advise the US side to change its practice, realise its errors and return to the right track of dialogue as soon as possible,” the spokeswoman commented even as US and Chinese negotiators struggled to resolve the diplomatic standoff over the spy plane tangle. She said the Chinese government had all along attached importance to the human rights issue and had dedicated itself to promoting and protecting the human rights and basic freedom of the Chinese people. Zhang noted that the USA, turning a blind eye to facts and driven by the needs of domestic politics, had tabled anti-China motions several times in an attempt to interfere in its internal affairs under the pretext of human rights issue and to tarnish Beijing’s image in the world. “We are ready to work with other members of the international community to continue to make positive contributions to the sound development of the human rights cause in the world,” the spokeswoman said. However, a leading human rights organisation has warned against the outcome of the vote saying it will further deteriorate the rights situation. “Beijing’s diplomatic victory at the UN Commission on Human Rights could lead to even further deterioration of human rights in China,” Human Rights Watch said. “With this vote, Beijing strengthens its hand,” Human Rights Watch’s UN representative Joanna Weschler said. During the past year, Beijing has enacted new regulations on access to the Internet, detained at least four foreign-based scholars with no explanation, waged a fierce campaign against the Falun gong and continued a crackdown on unofficial religious activity and repression of ethnic minorities in Tibet and Xinjiang, the statement added.
PTI |
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USA ‘may
declare Pak terrorist state’ Washington, April 19 Although Pakistan is in informal list of candidates, but “it would serve as an informal warning mechanism to countries that their activities are being scrutinised,” it said. The USA had also warned Pakistan in January 2000 that it was under “active continuing review” to determine whether it should be placed on the terrorism list. Though the threat was not carried out, Pakistan’s support for terrorists operating in India was mentioned in the state department’s report. The 1999 annual report noted that “Pakistan has tolerated terrorists living and moving freely within its territory; supported groups engage in violence in Kashmir and provided indirect support for terrorists in Afghanistan,” CRS said. The CRS report stressed that although Islamabad supported terrorism, yet Pakistan itself was a target of Islamic fundamentalists. About Afghanistan, which is also being considered to be declared as terrorist, it said: “Islamic fundamentalist terrorists linked to numerous international plots continue to train and operate out of the country and enter or exit with impunity, and more specifically that the Taliban continues to offer sanctuary to Osama bin Laden and his associated terror networks.”
PTI |
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Burundi coup fails Bujumbura (Burundi), April 19 In a statement, Defence Minister Cyrile Ndayirukiye said the 30 officers, who had billed themselves as the patriotic youth front, gave up after spending the night in the state-run radio, Burundi, where they had announced their coup. Earlier, the Defence Ministry said the army had put down yesterday’s coup attempt. Ndayirukiye said the city and the country were calm. President Pierre Buyoya, who had been in Gabon for talks with the main rebel group, Forces for Defence of Democracy, was expected back in here today. Soldiers had been stationed around the radio station in downtown Bujumbura, Burundi’s capital, but were under orders not to storm the building. The group had taken over the radio station at 4:30 p.m. local time (2000
IST) yesterday. After the guard fled, the soldiers played a tape announcing Buyoya’s removal from office, the dissolution of the National Assembly and closure of the airport. The statement was attributed to a Lt Gaston Ntakarutimana. The group had never been heard of before. Tutsi hardliners have opposed any talks with the rebels, and rumours of a coup have been rampant since Buyoya had signed a power-sharing agreement with 18 other parties in August, last year in Arusha, Tanzania, in the presence of former us President Bill Clinton.
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Rocca Powell’s aide for S. Asia Washington, April 19 Rocca succeeds Karl Inderfurth who played a key role in strengthening Indo-US ties during the Clinton administration. Inderfurth resigned in January after George W.Bush became the US President. The White House yesterday announced Bush’s “intention to nominate” Rocca. She will assume her post after Senate confirmation. As Assistant Secretary of State, she will be handling the affairs of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Her mentor, Brownback, has moved two amendments in the Senate favouring lifting of sanctions against India.
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Punjabi traders duped in China Beijing, April 19 Randhir Singh and Visakha Singh, both relatives hailing from Akal Garh Khurd village in Sangrur district and Kurar village in Ludhiana, respectively, arrived here on March 10 on a tourist visa to buy Chinese consumer goods which had a good market in India. Their bad luck started when they met two Punjabi-speaking Pakistanis, who recommended them a cheap hotel and later visited the Indians in their hotel room. Meanwhile, a Chinese man came in and introduced himself as a police officer. He accused them of dealing in counterfeit dollars, Randhir said. The Pakistanis, who could speak Chinese, gave their passports and money to the “police officer” and reassured the Indians that this was a routine check, he said. The “police officer” gave a receipt in Chinese and told them to collect their money and passports after two days from a police station. After two days, the Indians realised that they were being cheated as the police station mentioned in the receipt turned out to be a hotel. The Indian Embassy arranged for their return to India after confirming their details from Chandigarh regional passport office.
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Asian boom in America Los Angeles, April 19 One of the fastest growth rates in the 1990s belonged to those with Asian ancestry. With the population growing 74 per cent to 11.5 million last year, demographers expect them to help give America a much different look a decade from now. “In some ways, it’s not surprising at all,” said Don Nakanishi, head of the Asian American Studies Centre at the University of California at Los Angeles. He notes the US Asian population has doubled every decade since immigration restrictions were eased in 1965. In the 1990s, the growth rate of Asians surpassed even that of Hispanics. The number of Hispanics jumped 58 per cent to 35 million, putting them almost even with non-Hispanic blacks as the largest minority group in the country. Dong Hwan Park (39) moved from Seoul to Los Angeles 10 years ago, coming here largely so his wife, a diabetic, could receive better medical care. Many in particular moved from traditional Chinatowns, little Tokyos and little Saigons, which were either in or on the fringes of big cities, to what had in many instances been nearly all-white suburbs or rural areas. As a result, places like the New York City suburb of Fort Lee, New Jersey, is now 30 per cent Asian and located in a state that saw its Asian population increase as much as 94 per cent over the past decade. Other states with sharp increases include Colorado, Massachusetts, Louisiana, Arkansas, Pennsylvania and South Dakota. AO In Northern California and suburban New York, meanwhile, many Asians flocked to computer and dot-com businesses, though not necessarily always in white-collar jobs. “Asian Americans do everything in that region,” Nakanishi said. “Everything from owning some of the most successful high-tech and dot-com and hardware-software companies, all the way to people who assemble computers and others who are simply security guards. “There’s been a remarkable growth and remarkable diversification of the Asian population,” he said.
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