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Wednesday,
August 15, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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One-time
US waiver on arms transfer to Pak IRA
withdraws disarm offer Israeli
tanks make deepest thrust into Palestinian police
personnel and journalists look at the damage to the main police station in the northern West Bank town Jenin
on Tuesday. Israeli tanks entered Jenin early Tuesday morning and
levelled the police station
during a four-hour incursion into Palestinian territory. |
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| 10 feared
killed in Dhaka clash Dhaka, August 14 At least 10 persons were feared killed and 30 injured in a village in southeastern Feni district in a two-day gunfight between supporters of Bangladesh’s two dominant political parties. Clashes
break out after pact Vajpayee
a ‘security risk’ Race
relations improving: Indians Suharto
scion held |
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3
killed, 7 hurt in Quetta blast
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One-time US waiver on
arms transfer to Pak Washington, August 14 Monday’s move will facilitate the export of select US-origin attack helicopter and armoured personnel carrier (APC) spare parts and ammunition to Pakistan. In a memorandum to Secretary of State Colin Powell, President Bush wrote that “pursuant to the authority vested in me as US President and consistent with Title IX of the Department of Defence Appropriations Act 2000, I hereby waive the application of the restrictions contained in Sections 101 and 102 of the Arms Export Control Act, as they have been applied under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, and determine and certify to the Congress that the application of such restrictions would not be in the national security interests of the United States.” “With respect to Pakistan,” Bush notified Powell, “in so far as such restriction would otherwise apply to the sale of certain specified US-origin helicopter and armoured personnel carrier spare parts and ammunition to Pakistan for use in its deployment in Sierra Leone in support of UN peacekeeping operations.” Bush authorised Powell to transmit his waiver and certification to the appropriate committees of Congress for their approval. The one-time waiver provided by Bush followed some astute diplomacy by Pakistan, where it
skillfully used an offer to contribute to the UN peacekeeping to Sierra Leone while simultaneously requesting these military spare parts from the USA to support such a mission, saying such technology was imperative to its peacekeeping efforts. Administration officials made it clear that the USA was in no way trying to induce Pakistan into sending peacekeeping troops to Sierra Leone by providing this one-time waiver and that this offer by Islamabad had been made to the United Nations. The officials explained that the one-time national security waiver had been provided for under the Brownback Amendment and would not constitute a change in policy whereby the ban on military technology to Pakistan would be lifted. The officials emphasised that the administration has no intention whatsoever of compromising its commitment to non-proliferation. “The review” had been “made through an inter-agency process, but the final decision is made by the White House,” the officials explained. Observers said the Pakistanis were aware of the dire need of peacekeeping troops in Sierra Leone to “score political points over India since New Delhi had withdrawn its troops from Sierra Leone for whatever reasons.” Administration officials, however, refused to comment on whether this was an artful ploy by the Pakistanis and their high-priced Washington lobbyists to use the offer of peacekeeping troops. “It allows the Pakistanis to demonstrate that they are making a contribution to peacekeeping around the world,” one official said. Earlier, a UN spokesman had strongly defended the requested waiver by Pakistan, saying it was important that Pakistani peacekeeping units arrive in Sierra Leone as fully equipped and self-sufficient as possible. The UN peacekeeping mission in Sierra Leone has been authorised 17,500 troops by the UN Security Council, but it has only 10,100 troops on the ground at present. Pakistan has requested spare parts for its Cobra attack helicopters; tube-launched, optically tracked wire-guided missiles; and M1 13 armoured personnel carriers. Pakistan has said that without the US-supplied spare parts, some of its American-made military equipment provided years ago, before the Pressler Amendment in October 1990 banning military aid and technology transfer to Islamabad, “has been sidelined.”
IANS |
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Pak bans two ultra groups Islamabad, August 14 |
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IRA withdraws disarm
offer Dublin, August 14
In a statement to the Irish media yesterday, the IRA didn’t rule out the prospect of eventually scrapping some weapons. But the outlawed group emphasised that the recent British and Protestant demands were “totally unacceptable”. The move complicated efforts to salvage the Catholic-Protestant government at the heart of Northern Ireland’s 1998 peace accord. The four-party coalition faced likely collapse last weekend, the apparent deadline for divided lawmakers to elect a Protestant to the government’s vacated top post. But Britain intervened by withdrawing power from local hands for 24 hours, then restored it on Sunday. That legal manoeuvre forestalled the vote for six weeks. The IRA said the major Protestant party, the Ulster Unionists, should have accepted that commitment as adequate. The Ulster Unionists’ rejection, “compounded by the setting of pre-conditions, are totally unacceptable,” the IRA said. The IRA said Britain had acted illegally and in violation of the 1998 pact, a view supported only by the IRA-linked Sinn Fein party, junior Catholic members of the coalition. The IRA had agreed the scheme in talks with the province’s disarmament body, the International Independent Commission on Decommissioning (IICD). On August 8 we confirmed that the IRA leadership had agreed a scheme with the IICD to put arms completely and verifiably beyond use. Our initiative was a result of lengthy discussions with the IICD over a protracted period. This was an unprecedented development which involved a very difficult decision by us, and problems for our organisation. While mindful of these concerns, our decision was aimed at enhancing the peace process. However, the outright rejection of the IICD statement by the UUP (Ulster Unionst Party) leadership, compounded by the setting of pre-conditions, are totally unacceptable. Colombia’s arrest of three men with alleged links to Northern Ireland guerrillas seemed certain on Tuesday to jolt the British province’s already troubled peace process, a report from London said. The Colombian authorities said on Monday they did not know if the men belonged to the Irish Republican Army or a splinter group such as the Real IRA. Army Chief General Jorge Enrique Mora said the men had been training the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the South American state’s largest guerrilla group.
AP, Reuters  |
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Israeli tanks make deepest thrust into West Bank Bethlehem (Westbank), August 14 The shooting flared after Israeli tanks and bulldozers thrust into the northern west bank town of Jenin and destroyed a police building in an incursion the Israeli army said was retaliation for suicide bombings by Palestinian militants. The Palestinians were injured during an exchange of fire between Palestinian gunmen and Israeli soldiers in the city of Bethlehem, south of Jerusalem, Palestinian witnesses and hospital sources said. Bethlehem is controlled by the Palestinians. Palestinians shot and wounded an Israeli woman settler and another person identified by a settler spokesman as a two-year-old girl as the woman drove near the Tarkumiya junction close to the city of Hebron. An Israeli army spokeswoman said the woman was moderately wounded and the second person lightly injured by shrapnel. The skirmish in Bethlehem was intermittent but fierce. Two of the wounded were hit as their car raced across the firing zone. It was unclear whether any of the wounded were gunmen. A heavy gunbattle also broke out between Palestinian-ruled Beit Jala, south of Jerusalem, and the Jewish settlement of Gilo, which Israelis regard as a neighbourhood of Jerusalem. No injuries were reported. A report from Nablus said a Palestinian was blown to pieces in an explosion today in what medical workers described as an accident during the preparation of a bomb. JENIN: Israeli tanks began withdrawing from Jenin on Tuesday after a three-hour night-time attack in which troops raided key Palestinian Authority buildings, witnesses said. Demolishing two Palestinian checkpoints with tank rounds, the Israeli armour pushed into the centre of Jenin where soldiers briefly seized a building belonging to the town’s Governor and the main security headquarters in Jenin. The security building is used by Palestinian President Yasser Arafat on rare visits to Jenin. The troops held their fire to prevent casualties among civilians living in the heavily populated town and withdrew after destroying what Palestinian officials said was a relatively minor police building.
Reuters |
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10 feared killed in Dhaka clash Dhaka, August 14 With the latest deaths, the toll in the pre-election gun battles between supporters of the Awami League (AL) and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has climbed to 70 since the caretaker administration took office on July 15. A BNP leader in Dhaka claimed all people killed in the latest incident in Feni were its members. The administration of Feni, the home district of BNP chief Khaleda Zia, said two bodies had been recovered from the site of the gunbattle so far. The deputy commissioner of Feni, quoting eyewitnesses, said on Sunday night that five more persons had been killed. The police could not confirm whether 10 persons had been killed because those shot were reportedly on boats. It said the clashes were a sequel to Saturday’s incident in the same area when some AL supporters reportedly assaulted BNP activists returning from a public meeting that Zia had addressed in Feni. The BNP activists retaliated by attacking AL supporters in Char (islet) Inchimatra village on Saturday. The Police, quoting eyewitnesses, said a few armed men then went to Char Anjuman and set some villages on fire. The houses reportedly belonged to BNP supporters. Some BNP activists went in boats from nearby islets to extinguish the fire. As they approached Char Anjuman, the gunmen who were, near the burning houses opened fire, killing some of the men on the boats while some others jumped into the river. Eight persons were feared killed, the police said quoting witnesses. AL leader and former lawmaker of Feni Joynal Hazari said he did not know the number of people killed. The BNP has called a daylong strike in Sonagazi. BNP secretary-general Abdul Mannan Bhuyian has demanded Hazari’s arrest in connection with Saturday’s incident.
IANS |
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Clashes break out after pact Skopje, August 14 A Macedonian civilian was injured in an Albanian mortar attack near Tetovo, Interior Ministry sources said. Macedonian and ethnic Albanian political leaders put their signatures on a peace agreement in Skopje yesterday afternoon to resolve the current crisis in the country. The framework document, signed at the office of Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski, aims to address ethnic Albanian demands for greater recognition and representation in Macedonia. The fighting put a peace accord, signed by party leaders yesterday, under pressure. NATO experts — expected later today — were to prepare for a 3,500-strong force which could deploy within days to set up collection points for ethnic Albanian rebels to surrender their arms, officials said. Nato Secretary-General George Robertson said the advisers would reinforce officers already working with Macedonian forces to prepare “operation essential harvest”.
DPA, AFP |
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Vajpayee
a ‘security risk’ Sydney, August 14 The website has confirmed media speculation that Mr Vajpayee could face security threats from some extremist groups at the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) at Brisbane, which begins on October 6. Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has also been named a security risk for the four-day gathering of the heads of former British colonies. The two South Asian leaders are among 46 of 52 eligible Commonwealth leaders who have so far indicated that they intend to attend CHOGM 2001. Queen Elizabeth and Duke of Edinburgh would be among the guests at the biggest ever assembly of government heads in Australia. Details of militant organisations that plan to target the two leaders have, however, not been made public by Attorney-General’s
Web site. But it is believed that some Tamil extremists may target Sri Lankan President while the Indian leader is said to be facing danger from Islamic terrorists. The Attorney-General’s website has quoted notes from a recent speech of Brig Steve Ayling, security adviser to the government’s CHOGM 2001 Taskforce, to highlight the risk faced by Mr Vajpayee and Mr Kumaratunga. But both Indian and Sri Lankan diplomatic missions in Australia have reportedly not appreciated this move. “Such measures bring the spotlight on the Indian Prime Minister thus enhancing the security risk for him further,” an Indian diplomat said. CHOGM’s Australian spokesman Andrew Reynolds told reporters he was surprised that the reference to India and Sri Lanka was published. Mr Reynolds said the security organisations involved had identified some leaders as being more at risk, but acts like publishing names on the website “obviously puts them more at risk” because it could compromise security measures.
IANS |
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Race relations improving: Indians Durban, August 14 Nearly 62 per cent of Indians said race relations had improved in the country since the changes began in April 1994, said the survey, which was released yesterday. Conducted by the semi-state Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) at the end of last year, the survey concluded that Indians were also “most encouraged” by the changes in race relations. “If population group and gender are examined together, then Indian men seem the most encouraged and white men the least”, director of the HSRC Meschack Nkosi said. He said another survey, being carried out at the moment, would be released to coincide with the world conference on racism in Durban at the end of the month. “While 82 per cent of the respondents reported no experiences whatsoever of discrimination on the basis of their race during the previous six months, 27 per cent of white people had experienced discrimination, significantly more than black south Africans with 17 per cent, Indians with 12 per cent and coloured people with 11 per cent”, he said. The survey also studied south African provinces. “The survey has indicated that the eastern cape province is the province where the least discrimination has been experienced, with about 8 per cent and Mpumulanga province as the most with 24 per cent. The finding about
Indians being most encouraged by race relations comes in stark contrast to the persistent criticism in local newspapers about people of
Indian origin being discouraged by the high rate of crime and perceptions that the youth in kwazulu-natal are being marginalised by affirmative action.
PTI |
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Suharto
scion held Jakarta, August 14 The police armed with a search warrant raided the house of Ari Sigit Suharto in a compound of Suharto family homes in Jakarta’s leafy Menteng district late last night. They said they were searching for the former president’s fugitive son Hutomo “Tommy” Mandala Putra, who has been on the run since last November.
DPA |
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3 killed, 7 hurt
in Quetta blast Islamabad, August 14 The blast, which took place near a cinema theatre, was so strong that it disrupted the electricity system of the area and shattered windowpanes of nearby houses and shops, the police said, adding the bomb was reportedly planted on a cycle. The injured have been rushed to the district headquarters hospital of the city, and an emergency has been announced. Top military and civil authorities have reached the spot. Meanwhile, the authorities have cordoned the area and initiated investigation into the
blast. PTI |
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