 |
Sunday,
September 30, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
|
Taliban not averse to talks with
USA
No room for ex-king, says
Taliban US clarification on sanctions |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
10 killed in B’desh violence
FBI finds hijacker’s will Haqqani made head of Taliban
forces Bill on defence sales
introduced US inaction baffles
Alliance
|
|
Taliban not averse to talks with
USA Islamabad, September 29 Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai, one of the 10 religious leaders who went on a second peace mission to Kandahar, said though Omar has refused to extradite Bin Laden, “he is open for talks.” “The Taliban in no mood to make true Washington’s wishes,” Shamzai said over the phone from Karachi. “Omar is convinced that Bin Laden is not involved” in the New York and Washington carnage on September 11. “We (Pakistani religious leaders’ team) are convinced that whatever Mullah Omar says is right and in accordance with Islamic laws and traditions.” Since the USA warned of possible strikes against Afghanistan, Pakistan has sent in two delegations to hold talks with the Taliban to help avert a crisis after Kabul’s refusal to hand over Bin Laden, chief suspect in the US terror attacks. But the second delegation of Pakistani religious leaders delegation accompanied by ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) Director-General Mehmood Ahmed returned empty-handed from Kandahar late Friday night. Shamzai, who is patron-in-chief of Al-Rashid Trust recently banned by the USA along with 26 other organisations and individuals, said: “Omar also refused to bargain on foreigners who have been detained for preaching Christianity.” About Bin Laden’s extradition, he said: “We asked the Taliban leadership and they said they need to be convinced and want proof of Osama’s involvement.” The Taliban offer to accept any delegation for talks, even from the USA, should be taken positively, he said, adding that Washington should act accordingly and make arrangements for sending a high-level delegation comprising world leaders who have promoted peace. He said voices of sanity, some from across America but more from across the world, are falling on deaf ears in the corridors of power in Washington, where the mood seems to be revengeful. About freezing of his accounts, Shamzai said his organisation has accounts in the USA. But “there is no money. We withdraw money every week. My organisation is spending all amounts on welfare work and not a single rupee is given to any terrorist.” The Foreign Office, however, was not ready to comment on the outcome of the delegation’s visit to Kandahar. “I haven’t met any of the delegates, so it’s difficult for me to say anything on the outcome of the talks,” Foreign Office spokesman Riaz Khan said. About media reports that the delegation failed to convince the Taliban about Bin Laden, Khan said: “Media is reporting many things and not all are correct.” Besides Ahmed, the delegation included Mufti Saleem Ullah, Mufti Taqi Usmani, Qari Mufti Sher Ali Shah, Maulana Haji Abdul Rehman, Maulana Mohammad Hasan Jan, Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai, Mufti Muhammad Jamil, Maulana Fazle Rahim, Qari Saeedur Rehman and Maulana Abdul Ghani. Sources, meanwhile, said four important leaders of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Defence Council would shortly visit Afghanistan to try to further dig up a peaceful resolution of the issue. “(Jamaat-e-Islami chief) Qazi Hussain Ahmed, (heads of their own factions of Jamiat Ulma-e-Islam) Maulana Samiul Haq, Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman and (Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan chief) Maulana Shah Ahmed Noorani will visit Afghanistan soon,” a source said.
IANS |
|
No room for ex-king, says Taliban Teheran, September 29 Mullah Omar, quoted in conservative Iranian newspaper Entekhab, also repeated denials that the September 11 attacks on the USA were the work of Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, whom the Taliban are refusing to hand over to Washington. Several exiled Afghan leaders and groups have urged King Zahir Shah, who is 86, to play a part in overseeing the choosing of a new government. The United Nations envoy to Kabul has also said there could be a role for the former monarch, who has lived in exile in Italy since his overthrow in 1973. But Mullah Omar told Entekhab: “He is too old and weak... Anyway, Afghanistan does not have a leadership vacuum...Imposed puppets do not last long in Afghanistan and with the grace of God, the future of the Taliban shall be bright, anyway.” The Taliban leader also denied speculation that the movement was divided over whether to turn Bin Laden over. “These are just rumours the enemy is trying to make itself content with,” Mullah Omar said, adding that he condemned the deaths of civilians in New York and Washington and denying any involvement on the part of Bin Laden or the Taliban. He repeated that were Afghanistan to be attacked, then countries which aided U.S.-led strikes could be treated as enemy. Such remarks in the past few weeks have been aimed at the Taliban’s traditional ally, Pakistan, which has agreed to back a U.S.-led coalition responding to the September 11 attacks. “Any kind of sufficient action may be taken,” Mullah Omar said.
Reuters |
|
US clarification on sanctions Washington, September 29 — Glenn Amendment — all waived. The provision prohibited help under Foreign Assistance Act, US Government credit, credit guarantees and “other financial assistance” by departments, agencies or instrumentalities of USA. — Direct USA to “oppose” non-basic human needs loans, financial or technical assistance through International Financial Institutions. — Bar export licences for US Munitions List items and certain dual-use items. (Individual waiver previously granted for helicopter parts to India.) — Prohibit government defence sales under Foreign Military Sales and Foreign Military Financing. (Individual waiver previously granted for equipment for Pakistan’s forces serving in United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone. PAKISTAN:
— Pressler amendment prohibiting military assistance and transfers of military equipment or technology unless President certifies Pakistan does not possess a nuclear explosive device, has also been waived. — Symington Amendment which blocks use of Foreign Assistance Act or Arms Export Control Act funds for economic assistance, military assistance or International Military Education and Training, assistance for Peacekeeping Operations, or military credits or guarantees to any country, which receives from any other country nuclear enrichment equipment without safeguards has been lifted. — Section 508 of Foreign Operations Appropriations Act bars assistance under that Act to any country whose duly elected head of government was deposed by military coup. — Section 620 (q) of the Foreign Assistance Act and Section 512 of the Foreign Operations Appropriations Act (Brooke Amendment) bar certain assistance for countries in default on US Government loans. — Missile sanctions under Arms Export Control Act bar US Munitions List and dual-use export licenses and US Contracts for two years for entities involved in transfer of Missile Technology Control Regime-class missiles and technology. Imposed on specific Pakistani entities in November 2000 and September 2001. Entity list for Pakistan and India: The Commerce Department’s “Entity List” is published in the US Export Administration Regulations (Supplement 4 to Section 744). It was developed to help US Exporters identify foreign end-users that require individual export licenses for certain sensitive US Commodities and technologies of proliferation concern. A number of Indian and Pakistani entities are on this list. Their status was not affected by the recent waivers. The list continues to be reviewed.
PTI |
|
10 killed in B’desh violence Dhaka, September 29 They said violence flared across the country despite authorities having deployed 55,000 troops in an effort to improve law and order ahead of Monday’s general election. The police says about 290 persons have been killed and thousands injured in the run-up to the polls. Four activists of the Bangladesh Awami League were shot dead by paramilitary soldiers near Chittagong port on yesterday and three others died in clashes between militants from the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Three more persons were killed, at least 75 injured and 20 homes were burnt in Bhola, 320 km south of Capital Dhaka yesterday, the police said. A high-powered law and order committee met in Dhaka yesterday and a spokesman later told mediapersons that they felt some of the polling stations in and around the Capital could become troublesome. “We have made a list of the centres where violence is expected during the voting and discussed measures to prevent them,’’ he said without giving details. The BNP is headed by Begum Khaleda Zia, main rival to the Awami League’s leader Sheikh Hasina. Both parties are the main contenders in the election. The poll is being overseen by a non-party caretaker government headed by former Chief Justice Latifur Rahman, who took over on July 15 from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the country’s first Prime Minister to serve a full five-year term. Ms Hasina held her last pre-election rally in the Capital yesterday.
Reuters |
|
Prince Charles visits mosque London, September 29 He also paid a call on traders at the London office of Cantor Fitzgerald, the bond firm that lost more than 650 employees in the collapse of the World Trade Center. Prince Charles told reporters that he’d been eager to show his support for Britain’s Muslim community, which had been the target of some hostility since the attacks. “I very much wanted to come here ... to show how much I minded about and cared about the Islamic community in this country, particularly at a time when it’s so difficult for everybody,” he told reporters at the UK Turkish Islamic Cultural Center and Suleymaniye Mosque in east London. “And, at the same time, to show my support for those who believe more than anything else in the overwhelming importance of tolerance, compassion and understanding,” he added.
AP |
|
FBI finds hijacker’s will Hamburg (Germany), September 29 In a letter dated April 11, 1996, co-signed by two witnesses, the Egyptian hijacker gives a list of 18 instructions for “what those who inherit my belongings must do”, Der Spiegel said. The document was found by officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the USA along with three copies of an instruction letter, according to the report. The first copy was found in Atta’s luggage, which failed to be transferred from the flight he took from Portland (Maine) to Boston onto his corresponding flight. Atta, an Egyptian national, is suspected of seizing control of the first jet which ploughed into the World Trade Center in New York on September 11. In his letter, Atta urges his family and any other reader to “fear God and to not go the wrong way in life”.
AFP |
|
Haqqani made head of Taliban forces Islamabad, September 29 Haqqani, one of the senior army commanders who played a prominent role during the Afghan war against Soviet forces, has been asked to establish his command base at Khost, about 260 km southwest of Pakistan border town of Kohat, media reports said here today. Haqqani has been given the top job as he has about 60,000 militiamen working under him along with 70 stringer missiles, which were distributed by the US during their confrontation with the Soviet troops in 1980, Dawn said.
PTI |
|
|
Bill on defence sales introduced Washington, September 29 The USA’s nuclear cooperation with India and Pakistan, however, continued to be barred as per the provisions of the Bill. The Bill, co-sponsored by Senator Mitch McConnell, is significant in that it even waives the legislation barring certain types of aid to coup regimes such as the one in Pakistan. That would imply perfect equality between New Delhi and Islamabad, thus fulfilling a long cherished dream of Pakistan. The Bill authorises the President George W Bush to provide for India and Pakistan “assistance, enter into contracts, take actions in international financial institutions, sell, lease or authorise the export of defence articles or defence services, authorise the export of dual use items or extend other financial assistance”.
PTI |
|
US inaction baffles Alliance New York, September 29 Officials with the alliance said they doubted that US troops would prevail without the group’s solid knowledge of the Taliban militia, its units and tactics, as well as possible bombing targets. “Without us, it’s impossible,” General Baba Khan of the Northern Alliance told the daily. Unlike the Taliban, which has received huge military backing from Pakistan in recent years, the coalition of opposition forces is mainly equipped with weaponry that dates back to the 1979-89 Soviet invasion. The New York Times said the rebels also had difficulties in getting ammunition to forces spread out across northern Afghanistan, which they had hoped to be able to do in cooperation with US forces. AFP |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 121 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
The
first aid shipment since the attack on the United 
(
The
Northern Alliance is continuing its offensive in Tolukan
direction.
