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Sunday,
May 6, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Anti-terrorism centre near Afghanistan |
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Israel kills Jehad militant Ban on rallies will continue: Musharraf Tourist Tito does
kitchen tidy-up
in space station First woman US envoy to Pak Pope arrives
in Syria 5 commandos die
in Lanka blast
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Iran closes consulate in Herat Islamabad, May 5 “Iran’s move is a consequence of yesterday’s bomb blast in Herat leading to a mob attack on the Iranian consulate in the city,” Afghan diplomatic sources said here. The Iranian Foreign Minister informed his Afghan counterpart about the closure of the consulate and repatriation of its staff last night, they said adding the diplomats crossed over to Iran this morning. Afghanistan’s official Bakhtar news agency put the number of dead at eight but unofficial sources here said that 20 people lost their lives and hundred were injured in the blast outside a mosque in herat. The bombing caused a riot in Herat with demonstrators partially destroying the
Iranian consulate. Herat Governor Mulla Khairullah Khairkhawa was today quoted as saying that the bomb was planted in a bi-cycle by pro-Iranian Shia extremists to kill Iranian Sunni leader Maulvi Mohammad Musa, exiled by Iran. The Taliban militia has ordered an investigation into the blast. An Afghan Foreign Ministry statement, issued in Kabul today, said some circles in Iran were behind the blast, adding that they did not want improved relations between the two countries. “By realising the importance of the improvement of relations between Afghanistan and Iran...Pro-terrorism circles in Iran, not only attacked the normalisation of relations between the two countries but tried to provoke...The religious feelings of the two Muslim nations,” it said. The statement said the blast occurred ahead of a high-level meeting of Foreign Ministry officials from the two countries due to take place in Herat to discuss the opening of new border posts between Iran and Afghanistan. It did not say if the meeting had been cancelled. Witnesses said hundreds of people demonstrated against Iran in Herat today but there was no violence. The blast, which happened after yesterday prayers, killed exiled Iranian Sunni scholar Maulvi Mohammad Musa Akrampoor. The Taliban say Akrampoor was the main target of the blast. It said the person who had planted the bomb was an Iranian national who was killed in the blast. Meanwhile, Taliban soldiers drove opposition soldiers from Yakoalong district in central Afghanistan’s Bamiyan province today, officials said. A blistering artillery duel shortly before sunrise preceded the capture of the key district, said the Taliban’s Information Minister Qadratullah Jamal. Yakoalang fell to opposition soldiers, led by ousted defence chief Ahmed Shah Massood, in January. The two sides have been waging relentless battles for the key district that links central Bamiyan province to northern regions. The district has exchanged hands several times. During one of the recent occupations of Yakoalong there were reports of indiscriminate killings by Taliban soldiers. The Taliban, who rule roughly 95 percent of Afghanistan, have denied the charge. However, aid organizations in the area have distributed lists of people, who have disappeared and are presumed dead. Both sides in Afghanistan’s bitter conflict have been accused of summarily executing people. Bamiyan gained international recognition in February when the Taliban’s reclusive leader Mullah Mohammed Omar ordered the destruction of all statues of Buddha. That order included two mammoth mountain carvings edged into the mountainside in central Bamiyam province. The Taliban ordered destruction threat saying there were idolatrous and against the tenets of Islam. Their destruction caused international outrage.
PTI, Reuters, AP |
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Anti-terrorism centre near Afghanistan Washington, May 5 The army chiefs of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan met in Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek last month and signed a protocol to set up a centre to tackle the increasing threat to the region due to the spread of Islamic fundamentalism. The centre will be designed as a military headquarters where Russian, Chinese and Central Asian army officers will plan and lead anti-militant operations. The collaboration will range from Joint Operations Planning to military technical assistance. Under the agreement signed in Bishkek, Russia and China will provide combat weapons like gunships, tanks, surface-to-air missiles and mortars to the frontline states of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Russian and Chinese armed forces have not cooperated directly since they parted ways during the early sixties. The report said Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan expect a new offensive to be launched from Afghanistan by the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IDU). Though IDU’s main goal is to overthrow the secular regime in Uzbekistan, its more immediate task is to establish an Islamic state in the Ferghana valley which includes Kyrgyz, Tajiik and Uzbek lands. Intelligence services in the region expect the IDU offensive to be on a larger scale this year for which Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan armies are ill-equipped to repulse on their own. Moreover, the banned radical Islamic organisations in both countries are expanding their clandestine activities, according to Tajikistan’s Defence Minister. The report said the impoverished population in these countries sympathised with the Islamic militants who preached rapid change once they took over. Kazakhstan bordering Russia is also witnessing an upsurge in radical Islamic activities. The Uighur separatists are using the Kazakh territory to plot against China. The Taliban regime in Afghanistan is backing the Islamic fundamentalists fighting the Central Asian governments by providing them refuge in Kabul. Some non-governmental organisations from Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates provide finances to these Islamic militant groups.
UNI |
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Israel kills Jehad militant Jerusalem, May 5 Palestinian medical sources and witnesses said Israeli special forces had fired more than 20 bullets at Ahmed Khalil Esaa Ismail (35) in the village of Ertass, close to Bethlehem. The Israel army said it had “no record” of an operation or disturbances in the area. Islamic Jehad activists have been behind attacks in the past that have killed scores of Israelis. The Palestinians accused Israel of a deliberate assassination. Israel maintains the right to strike at Palestinians planning or executing attacks, but denies that this amounts to a policy of assassination. Meanwhile, Israel and the Palestinian authorities received draft copies of the report by a five-man international fact-finding group led by former US Senator George Mitchell. Israeli political sources said the report, which was not made public, said Israel should halt settlement building but did not suggest sending a peacekeeping force to the region. The sources said the report recommended the Israeli army use non-lethal weapons in confrontations with stone-throwers; advised it to pull back to positions held before the outbreak of fighting; and called on the Palestinians to halt violence. It did not apportion blame for the bloodshed but said Israel should have considered the effect of a visit by Ariel Sharon — subsequently elected Prime Minister — to a Jerusalem holy site. Sharm el-Sheikh (Egypt): Arafat and Mubarak held discussions at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, followed by expanded talks with their full delegations, witnesses said. Arafat came to Egypt from South Africa, where he attended a special meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement.
Reuters |
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Ban on rallies will continue: Musharraf Hanoi (Vietnam), May 5 Musharraf said he did not know exactly how many members of the main anti-government alliance had been arrested in the last week’s crackdown. “By now I am sure that all people must have been released,” he said. Musharraf said his government would not allow “any violation of the rule set by this government — that is, no political activity.” The government imposed a ban on rallies soon after it seized power in October 1999. Last week it arrested hundreds of supporters of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy to prevent a planned rally on May 1 for early elections. “There will be no lifting of the ban on political activity until we have elections next year,” Musharraf said. Musharraf, who finished a three-day visit to Vietnam today, said Pakistan and the south-east Asian nation had agreed to begin regular diplomatic consultations and greatly increase trade. “The future looks very bright between Vietnam and Pakistan,” he said. Musharraf was the first Pakistani leader to visit Vietnam after the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1972.
AP |
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Tourist Tito does
kitchen tidy-up in space station Moscow, May 5 The millionaire guest was sorting out jumbled packs of condensed breakfasts, lunches and dinners in the galley. Tidying up the instant meals, which all look alike, is an unpopular and time-consuming chore among the spacemen, who normally have far more interesting things to do. The American was “actually quite a help”, Muzabayev told ground control in Moscow by radio link.
DPA |
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First woman US envoy to Pak Islamabad, May 4 Ms Chamberlain, a career diplomat and former director for counter-terrorism in the us national security council, will succeed William Milam, during whose term the USA tilted away from Pakistan and moved closer to India. She would also join the long line of us women officials dealing with South Asia, including Assistant Secretary to South Asia Chritiana Rocco. If her nomination is confirmed, she will become America’s first woman ambassador to Pakistan, which, in turn, is also represented by a woman envoy, Maleeha Lodhi, here, Pakistani newspaper ‘dawn’ said today. Ms Chamberlain had also previously served as an Ambassador to Laos and Deputy Chief of Mission in Kuala Lumpur.
PTI |
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Pope arrives
in Syria Damascus, May 5 The Pontiff’s Piazza dei Miracoli (Square of Miracles) Airbus 321, flying from Athens, touched down at Damascus airport just before 11 a.m. GMT. President Bashar al-Assad welcomed the Pope at the plane as a 21-gun salute echoed. A frail but determined looking Pontiff walked slowly as hundreds of students waving Syrian and Papal flags cheered. An enthusiastic Assad stood close by the Pope as a military band played the national anthems of Syria and the Vatican. The boisterous crowd chanted “We love you John Paul’’ as the Pontiff and Assad headed to the airport’s VIP lounge.
Reuters |
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5 commandos die
in Lanka blast Colombo, May 5 In another incident, two rebels committed suicide by biting cyanide capsules after they were arrested at a village in Trincomalee district. The landmine attack took place near Thirukkovil, 25 km southeast of Ampara, when the police commandos of the Special Task Force were moving in for duty from their camp towards Supathaaneli bridge.
PTI |
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