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Sunday,
June 17, 2001, Chandigarh, India   |
Pak has few new ideas on Kashmir: Sattar
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‘Foreign hand behind Pak riots’ Islamabad, June 16 Pakistan military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf has blamed the “foreign hand” behind violence during the recent agitation by the Mutahhidda Quami Movement and the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Movement in Karachi city and promised to bring in a tough ordinance to quell growing acts of terrorism in the country.
Shared interests make India, USA natural allies: Galbraith |
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Spy gave money to Mother
Teresa 2 Pak pilots to fly round the globe in 80 days 14 ultras, 2 soldiers killed in Lanka
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Pak has few new ideas on Kashmir: Sattar London, June 16 Mr Sattar told interviewer Tim Sebastian on BBC Television’s “Hard Talk” programme that Pakistan’s approach to the summit, likely to be held in July, “The problem should be solved by taking into account the wishes of the people.” “That’s the new idea, the settlement of the Kashmir issue is linked to the Kashmiri people,” he said. In a hard-hitting half-hour interview yesterday, Mr Sattar was constantly on the defensive against a wide range of questions about Islamabad’s repeated violation of human rights, the military regime’s suppression of democracy and its continuing, unqualified support for the murderous policies of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Pressed on what he knew about recent massacres in the northern town of Mazar-e-Sharif in which Taliban fighters killed 1,000 civilians, Mr Sattar said: “There has been fighting and in fighting people die; there’s a civil war on and in a civil war things happen.” Asked if Pakistan was prepared to condemn the Taliban, Mr Sattar said: “We didn’t oppose UN resolutions condemning the Taliban. The Security Council’s resolution 1333 has been accepted by us. It calls for the prohibition of military assistance to the Taliban and Pakistan is observing the requirements of that resolution.” He denied Pakistan was internationally isolated. “Thirty countries have received the Gen Pervez Musharraf. Today I met the UK Foreign Secretary, tomorrow I’m meeting the Foreign Minister of Canada, then I’m meeting the Secretary of State of the USA,” he said. When Sebastian pointed out that Pakistan had been condemned for the suspension of democracy and human rights violations by the European Parliament, the Commonwealth and other international institutions, Mr Sattar responded: “I’m not saying that Pakistan is observing democratic rules. But we have three years extra-constitutional rule legitimised by the Supreme Court.” “There are preparations for a return to genuine, sustainable democracy. The Supreme Court gave us three years and October 12, 2002, is the cut-off date,” Mr Sattar Said. “We had a so-called democracy before and now we have a so-called military regime. Look at what this government has done for restraint, responsibility and building a base for sound democracy,” he added. “What I would like to suggest is that the military regime in Pakistan is a technocratic regime with Gen Pervez Musharraf at its head,” Mr Sattar said. When asked by Sebastian to justify the harassment of political parties and the detention of people without due process, Mr Sattar said: “The number of people in custody is very small.” Alluding to the military regime’s crackdown on political meetings on March 23, Mr Sattar said: “One political party wanted to hold a big demonstration in Lahore. We said, ‘You can’t disturb law and order.’ Now they are holding meetings in hotels and private homes. They are openly invited to discuss politics on TV. People under custody are the people who have plundered the country and are now being sued in civil courts.”
IANS
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Abu Sayyaf frees 3 hostages Isabela (Philippines), June 16 The rebels turned over Kimberly Jao and Francis Ganzon to Islamic preacher Mohaimin
Latip, who was himself held for a week when he visited the Abu Sayyaf camp and presented himself as a freelance negotiator, said the official, who asked not to be named. The three turned up in the Basilan town of Tipo-Tipo early today and would be flown to Manila for a meeting with President Gloria
Aroyo, he added. Meanwhile, concern was growing in the Philippines today about the fate of US hostage Guillermo
Sobero, with no sign of the American in numerous sightings of captives held by guerrillas on Basilan island. Four days after the Abu Sayyaf gunmen claimed to have beheaded Sobero as a gruesome gift to the government, officials admitted they did not know what had happened to the Californian. “There have been numerous sightings of the Abu Sayyaf and their hostages (but) no sightings of
Sobero,” a military official involved in the Basilan operation said. MANILA: The Philippines’ influential Roman Catholic bishops today gave their blessing to wiping out the Muslim guerrillas holding American and Filipino hostages on Basilan island, as long as they are killed in self defence. The church leaders drew the line at summarily executing members of the Muslim Abu Sayyaf gang, said Archbishop Orlando
Quevedo, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philipines
(CBCP). But troops had a right to defend themselves if attacked by the rebels during a hostage rescue attempt, he said.
AFP
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‘Foreign hand behind Pak riots’ Islamabad, June 16 “There is a foreign hand involved in these disturbances,” he said without naming any country and asked people to ignore strike calls given by the MQM and the JSQM to protest against the acute water shortages. Three persons were killed, more than 30 vehicles burnt down and over half-a-dozen bomb explosions rocked the southern Sind province, which was the stronghold of the MQM and the JSQM, during protest demonstrations this week. The MQM and the JSQM represented the minority Muhajirs and Sindhis respectively, and MQM leader Altaf Hussain, who is currently on self-exile in London, has recently announced he would be visiting New Delhi shortly after General Musharraf’s summit meeting with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Answering questions from a select panel at a live programme on national television and radio last night, General Musharraf outlined the steps being taken by his government to combat the increasing religious and sectarian violence, his forthcoming visit to India and the strategy to pull Pakistan’s economy out of the quagmire of $40 billion foreign debt. General Musharraf said he planned to bring a new ordinance next week to deal with sectarianism and terrorism. “This will cover all kinds of sectarian terrorism, including inciting others to sedition. We will launch a crackdown on all kinds of sectarian terrorism, including inciting others to sedition”, he added. General Musharraf also asked people to stand up boldly against the sectarian and terrorist elements. “We must raise voice against those who are creating a law and order problem. If we go to a mosque and hear provocative speeches then we must stop them,” he said. “It is not only my responsibility or for that matter of the police or military”, he said. Referring to the acute economic crisis, he said “our dilemma is that there is no money left in our budget for the development projects after meeting prerequisites otherwise we cannot progress”.
PTI
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Shared interests make India, USA natural allies: Galbraith Washington, June 16 Mr Galbraith, who has served as U.S. ambassador to India from 1961 to 1963 under late president John F. Kennedy, has said receiving the Padma Vibhushan, one of India’s highest civilian awards, has “satisfied (him) for a lifetime.” While acknowledging that there are some Cold War warriors both in the USA and India who did not want relations between the two nations to blossom to the fullest, Mr Galbraith said, “The reality is there is enormous interest in India about the USA and a fascination in the USA with India.” “That is the ultimate relationship between the two democracies and that is what we should look for. We shouldn’t attribute too much importance to a few officials in the USA and a few officials in India,” Mr Galbraith told IANS in a telephone interview from Boston. He said when he heard various contentious issues “might be damaging to the Indo-US relationship, I just close my ears.” Mr Galbraith, known for his development of Keynesian and post-Keynesian economics and for his active involvement in US politics during the Kennedy era and thereafter, noted “it’s 40 years since I served in India, but it continues to be in my mind.” He said, “Many of the things the Indian government was doing at that time are now part of the evidence of India’s success. I take no credit for that myself.” Mr Galbraith said, “Steps were underway 40 years ago that are very much evident today, and I emphasise, I don’t take credit for them. This was the great enterprise.” “The most spectacular case, of course, is food production,” he said, recalling the near famine in India “when I went out there.” He still remembers the “loads of wheat coming into Bombay (Mumbai) every week. But he said now in an amazing turnaround, India in recent years “has a food surplus. This is an incredible achievement of the most important single product, other than perhaps rice and a few other crops.” Mr Galbraith, who has received 45 honorary degrees from institutions worldwide, said former president Bill Clinton’s trip to India as president in March, 2000, and again this year as a private citizen to commiserate with the people of India in the aftermath of the devastating Gujarat earthquake had completely transformed Indo-US relations like never before. “It was a really great journey that he made,” both as President and as part of the American India Foundation (AIF), he said. “It showed our sympathy and help and need for help for the people who were devastated by the earthquake.” According to Mr Galbraith, the relations today “are very good and they will continue to be good and that was manifest in President Clinton’s trips.” On June 12, Indian Ambassador Lalit Mansingh travelled to Mr Galbraith’s residence in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to present him with the award, rarely given to foreigners, conferred on him for his immense contributions to strengthening bilateral ties between India and the USA. Mr Galbraith, 92, Emeritus Professor of economics at Harvard University, where he taught for 52 years, thanked Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee “and the people of India for bestowing upon me this great honour. I feel that having the Medal of Freedom and the Indian award, I am satisfied for a lifetime.”
IANS |
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Spy gave money to Mother Teresa Washington, June 16 On May 15, Hanssen, a 56-year-old senior FBI counterintelligence operative, was indicted on 21 counts, including spying for Russia and the former Soviet Union starting in 1985. Fourteen of the 21 charges could carry the death penalty as punishment. But according to the CBS news, Hanssen began at least six years earlier: around 1979 Hanssen’s wife Bonnie became suspicious of his suspicious behavior and confronted him, CBS reported, citing sources close to Hanssen’s family. Hanssen then confessed to a Roman Catholic priest of the conservative Opus Dei movement, and donated more than $ 10,000 that he had been paid by the Soviets to Mother Teresa in Calcutta, according to the CBS. Hanssen then reportedly stopped spying for six years, according to another source who spoke to the network. Hanssen was arrested on February 18 after he dropped a batch of documents at an agreed location in a public park in Virginia. But when Hanssen resumed his spying he continued to report his activities as sins to Opus Dei priests, according to Alen Salerian, a psychiatrist hired by his defence team, interviewed by the CBS. The CBS story came late yesterday as the US media buzzed with reports that Hanssen, who pleaded innocence on May 31, may be about to plead guilty and brief the government on the extent of his spying in exchange for a life sentence.
His jury trial is set to begin on October 29. AFP |
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2 Pak pilots to fly round the globe in 80 days Islamabad, June 16 Zaka Ullah Bhangoo, a retired Pakistan Army Brigadier, and co-pilot Ajab Khan, a serving army Lieutenant-Colonel, will be the first Pakistanis to attempt such a mission and the third group ever in the world to try it. “It started off as an adventure, second thing was charity and ... also to set an example for others to follow in our steps,” Bhangoo told Reuters yesterday. Bhangoo bought the US-made Star Streak aircraft for $ 35,000 after he sold some land to fulfil his dream. The two-seater aircraft has a top speed of 209 km per hour. Bhangoo and Khan will start in the second week of July from Islamabad for China, Siberia, Alaska, Canada, United States of America, across the United States of America and back up in Canada before heading towards Iceland, Europe, Africa and the West Asia. “A lot of success of this mission also depends on a lot of luck, it’s hard work...,” Bhangoo said. “In this case when you talk of luck you are talking about weather. The aircraft just weighs 180 kg ... Winds anything more than 20 knots and there is difficulty,” he said.
Reuters
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14 ultras, 2 soldiers killed in Lanka Colombo, June 16 Ten militants were killed when troops ambushed a group of extremists in Mannar district. Naval forces engaged a suspicious-looking fibreglass dingy with two occupants off Mullativu killing the duo. A couple of soldiers were killed when ultras fired on troops on patrol in Walikanda. Two terrorists were killed in Batticaloa and Jaffna.
UNI
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