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July 12, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Court orders fresh poll in Fiji 9 whites held in Bradford NEWS ANALYSIS |
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Lanka PM breaks off talks with Oppn
Life term for US
Embassy bomber Typhoon disrupts air traffic |
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HR Chowdhury
dead
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Court orders fresh poll in Fiji SUVA, July 11 Justice Michael Scott found that President Ratu Josefa Iloilo acted “on the grounds of necessity” when he formally dissolved Parliament, dismissed the country’s first ethnic Indian Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and installed a caretaker government. Chaudhry’s government was ousted on May 19, last year, by armed nationalist rebels, led by George Speight, who held most of the cabinet hostage for nearly two months. They were finally released when the rebels negotiated a deal with Fiji’s military for an indigenous Fijian government to be put into power. Speight faces trial on treason charges. “I don’t believe it would be reasonable to turn back the clock to pre-May 19, 2000,” Justice Scott said in his ruling. “I therefore rule that elections go ahead as planned in August.” Relations between indigenous Fijians and Indians, brought in by the British as indentured labour, have been frosty for over a decade. Fijians, of Indian descent, who make up 44 per cent of the 800,000-strong population, are economically dominant. Scott’s decision contrasted with an appeals court decision in March which stated that the military-backed government was illegal, that pre-coup Parliament had not been dismissed and that the 1997 multi-racial constitution remained valid. But the High Court ruling meant writs were expected to be issued later on Wednesday, as scheduled, for the August elections, with voting to be conducted across Fiji’s far-flung islands over a week from August 25. Justice John Scott ruled in a case by the Citizens’ Constitutional Forum which challenged President Josefa Iloilo’s decision to dismiss Chaudhry, dissolve Parliament and call fresh elections. More than 20 political parties have been registered. Chaudhry is still leading the mostly ethnic-Indian Labour Party and faces a challenge from caretaker Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, an indigenous Fijian, who has built up significant support in the South Pacific nation since being installed by the military. Chaudhry also faces a split with his own former deputy, Tupeni Baba, an indigenous Fijian held hostage by the rebels but who set up a rival New Labour Party earlier this year. Former Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, who led two racially inspired coups in 1987 to oust a majority ethnic Indian government, has also said he will run again for office.
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9 whites held in Bradford Bradford (England), July 11 “There have been a small number of incidents, including damage to property, such as windows smashed and objects thrown at officers,” said the spokesman. “Since midnight it has been very quiet, he added.” Bradford, 15 per cent of whose 482,000 residents are of Bangladeshi or Pakistani origin, is the fourth northern English town to be rocked by racial unrest in the recent weeks. In May riots broke out in the industrial town of Oldham and more recently Leeds and Burnley have been hit by street violence. The violence has been blamed on the presence of white supremacists in northern towns, where Asians, who came to Britain to work in the textile industry, have been hit by the decline of the manufacturing sector. The authorities say 164 police officers were injured and 70 persons were arrested in the first three nights of unrest in Bradford. A report commissioned by the Bradford city council and other groups before the rioting blamed a host of problems for racial tension in the city.
Reuters |
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NEWS ANALYSIS THERE is a grimmest possible news from Nepal. The Maoist insurgents, in their latest orgy of massacres, overran three security posts killing 41 police personnel on the 55th birthday of the new king Gyanendra on July 6. In one of the posts, the Communist rebels locked the surrendered policemen in a room with hands tied behind their backs before shooting them point blank. This is not the first time that such shocking episode reminiscent of medieval barbarianism has taken place. Several months back 60 police personnel were done to death in various locations of western Nepal. Barely a week before the latest carnage, the underground Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) had avowedly declared to act against the supporters of the new king and the ruling political establishment presided by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala. The extremists for a variety of reasons, hold them responsible for the macabre death of King Birendra considered liberal by them. Maoists have stepped up their violence since the ruthless killing of virtually the entire royal family. They, according to Kunda Dixit, editor of Nepal Times, are busy in capitalising in the confusion while the government is still in a state of shock. Deputy Prime Minister Ram Chandra Poudel looking after the home portfolio, has termed the Maoist violence as an ‘attack on democracy’ and urged all political parties to unite against the rebels. In the fragmented political scenario of Nepal, the appeal has expectedly fallen on deaf ears. The armed Leftists seem to be well organised and liberally funded from the money collected from extortion and probable assistance from external intelligence agencies. Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal alias Prachand’s statement appearing in the press congratulating his militant cadres for their successful operations launched simultaneously in three districts, lends credence to their close knit organisational capabilities and communication channels. The manner in which Nepalese policemen especially in remote outposts are being gunned down without any resistance worth the name speaks poorly about their equipment, training and morale. The police force appears to be highly demoralised and lacks the will to resist the motivated militants. This also proves the utter neglect of regions by the administration where the government machinery is conspicuous by its absence. The Maoists obviously exploiting such hapless conditions, have been able to indoctrinate the deprived peasantry inhabiting these areas and have secured safe havens to further spread their tentacles. A stage has come when their covert influence is being felt in the Kathmandu valley, the Himalayan kingdom’s nerve centre, ringing warning bells for the Nepalese government to swing into action. It has already pressed the panic button by asking the army chief on an official visit to Britain to cut short his stay signifying that military action against the rebels is in the offing. Simultaneously, the Koirala government has expressed its willingness and sent strong feelers to Maoists to engage them in talks. While the government is ready to start purposeful negotiations, the rebel groups buoyed by their recent blood soaked successes are not serious for the proposed meeting. On the contrary, the rebels had expressed their willingness for talks in the not too distant past. They had demanded an all- party conference and an interim government to prepare for a new constitution as their terms to end violence. But in the wake of latest spilling of official blood, it is most unlikely that the rebels, who model themselves on Peru’s Shining Path guerrillas, will agree to come to the negotiating table. The Maoist armed struggle in Nepal with the aim of turning the kingdom into a republic started in 1996 and since then it is steadily growing as proved by frequent daring raids on police and government establishment. The insurgency has already claimed nearly 2000 lives in the land locked kingdom. The Koirala government was earlier seriously considering deploying the army to crush the rebels which ironically was not approved by the late King Birendra. He had sent feelers for making peace through his emissaries. Moreover, typicality of Nepal is that the military establishment unlike in other modern democracies, takes orders from the monarchy rather than the democratically elected government. Though Kathmandu area remains comparatively unscathed so far, conditions are deteriorating in other parts of the kingdom. Nearly 50 per cent of the districts are reported to be under Maoists’ control. The new King Gyanendra will have no alternative but to launch a swift military action to stamp out the militancy. Will the Nepalese army have resources enough to do the job? It may have to seek some help from India. The Indo-Nepalese working group has recently resolved to cooperate in jointly fighting terrorism and help if requested may be forthcoming despite the over stretching of security resources within India. New Delhi needs to be on guard since it has a highly porous and unguarded border with Nepal and the armed rebels have reportedly been crossing at will into adjoining districts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal looking for shelter. The Maoists have also been able to forge links with MCC and PWG cadres in Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. Another alarming factor is the indication of Pakistan’s ISI’s covert assistance to Nepalese Maoists. The involvement of the Chinese intelligence agencies based in Tibet also can not be ruled out. Alarm bells must start ringing in New Delhi to take preventive measures. The fact must not be brushed aside that India has a large number of loyal Gorkha soldiers serving in its army. It is quite possible that many of them hail from the insurgency infected areas. For the welfare of their families and in our own national interest, it is high time that we must offer help to the Nepalese authorities in curbing the Maoist menace. |
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Maoist rebels
kill SSP Kathmandu, July 11 A police official said Senior Superintendent of Police Parmeshwor Singh Sijapati was fatally wounded late on Tuesday by the suspected rebels near Tulsipur in Dang district, 400 km west of the capital, Kathmandu. Sijapati was the chief of police in the Rapti zone that includes some of the districts most affected by the Maoist insurgency against the constitutional monarchy. He was the most senior police official to be killed by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) rebels since they started a violent campaign for a communist republic in the world’s only Hindu kingdom in early 1996.
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Lanka PM breaks off talks with Oppn Colombo, July 11 However, senior minister and Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP) general secretary S.B. Dissanayake said the only solution to the current political crisis was that the two main and other willing political parties join hands to form a government. On Sunday, the Prime Minister accused the UNP of not cooperating in the formation of the national government ahead of a no-confidence motion. “During talks, the UNP pledges support and in Parliament it opposes the move. It is like stabbing from behind,” he added. “Now, there will be negotiation with the opposition to form a government of consensus,” Mr Wickremanayake declared. On the contrary, Mr Dissanayake said he had already put forward some ideas to President Chandrika Kumaratunga on the formation of the national government. Another minister, Mahenda Rajapakse was also reportedly engaged in talks with the opposition.
UNI |
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Life term for US
Embassy bomber New York, July 11 Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, 27, is the second person to be sentenced to life inprisonment in the almost simultaneous bombings of the US Embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, which left 224 persons dead and more than 4,000 injured. Twelve among the killed were Americans. The jury had convicted four persons in all for conspiring with international terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden to kill Americans. The remaining two — Lebanese-American Wadih el Hage and Jordanian Mohamed Sadeek Odeh — are yet to be sentenced. After the jury gave its verdict yesterday, defence attorney David Ruhnke said the death penalty should be reserved for the higher ups, not the “foot soldiers.”
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Typhoon disrupts air traffic Taipei, July 11 Trami, the third typhoon to hit Taiwan in less than a month, was moving northwest at an average speed of 10 km per hour after it spread over southern parts of the island earlier today, the Central Weather Bureau said. The typhoon, with winds gusting up to 100 km per hour, had forced domestic airlines to cancel flights to and from Taiwan’s southeastern region.
Reuters |
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HR Chowdhury
dead Dhaka, July 11 A career diplomat turned politician, Chowdhury was elected Speaker on July 14, 1996. He was elected an MP from a constituency in Sylhet and joined Awami League prior to the election in 1996. He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.
IANS |
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