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Sunday,
January 13, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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US bombing on despite plea for halt Islamabad, January 12 Amputation of hands and stoning to death will continue to be the punishment for thieves and adulterers in post-Taliban Afghanistan, country’s new Chief Justice Fazal Hadi Shinwari was reported today as saying. |
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Musharraf has done little: RAW official
UK pushing arms sales to India ‘Pujas’ for English cows With hearing put off, Anwar begins fasting
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Afghan war prisoners land at Cuba base Guantanamo Bay(Cuba), January 12 The first transfer of prisoners came as thousands of Northern Alliance troops withdrew from Kabul, and US bombers pounded targets in Afghanistan where it was rumoured that Al-Qaida and Taliban forces were attempting to regroup. Twenty chained and hooded prisoners, who endured a gruelling, near 27-hour flight from Kandahar, Afghanistan, touched down in a US Air force cargo plane at a base ceded by Cuba in 1903 and leased to the USA in perpetuity. They were to be penned in a spartan internment facility, dubbed “Camp X-Ray,” dotted with basic outdoor cells with open chain-link walls, concrete floors and ringed by razor wire, where they will be held indefinitely. At least one of the prisoners, all of whom are considered a top security risk, was sedated during the flight, said US officials. Some of the prisoners were believed to be suicide risks. “Obviously we’ve been told this is a tough group of people and we’re prepared to secure them here at camp X-Ray,” Navy Lieutenant Bill Salvin said. In Washington, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld declared that the detainees were “unlawful combatants” and technically had no rights under the Geneva Convention. “They will be handled not as prisoners of war — because they’re not — but as unlawful combatants. As I understand it, technically, unlawful combatants do not have any rights under the Geneva Convention.” Mr Rumsfeld said, however, that the prisoners would be treated “for the most part” in a manner “reasonably consistent” with the convention. The International Committee of the Red Cross has said it would be granted access to the prisoners in Cuba. As the prisoners were flown into the base, Gen Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said 445 Al-Qaida and Taliban fighters had now been handed to US forces. As they left Kandahar a volley of shots erupted, apparently directed at US marines guarding the airport. But despite a search, the US forces failed to find the perpetrators of the attack. HAVANA: Cuba has offered to provide medical assistance to the Afghan and Al-Qaida prisoners now being housed at the US military base in Guantanamo, Cuba — in an unusually friendly statement bereft of its traditional anti-American rhetoric. Such medical cooperation was offered by Havana to Washington in 1999 when the US Government was considering using the base to house refugees from the war in Kosovo, said the statement released late on Friday, signed simply “Government of the Republic of Cuba .”
AFP, AP |
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US bombing on despite plea for halt Islamabad, January 12 Quoting residents around Zhawar town, the Pakistan-based news agency said warplanes carried out heavy raids in the morning using high ordnance bombs. Many residents had fled their homes as a result of heavy raids over the past few nights, it said. Yesterday, elders from several tribes in the eastern Khost region demanded an immediate halt to the US air strikes. The gathering, attended by elders of the Tani, Gurbuz, Lakan and other tribes, said there was no Al-Qaida or Taliban presence in the area. The Zhawar region in Khost province has been the target of almost daily air strikes since January 3, when US forces began massive aerial bombardments upon finding signs that Al-Qaida fighters were repopulating their former training bases there. US ground troops scouring the area have found heavy weapons and ammunition in a much larger network of bunkers, caves and buildings than had been apparent from earlier aerial reconnaissance.
AFP |
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Afghanistan to follow Islamic laws: CJ Islamabad, January 12 Mr Justice Shinwari told the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) that the head of the post-Taliban interim government, Mr Hamid Karzai, had informed him that the Islamic laws were to remain in force in Afghanistan. “Afghanistan is an Islamic country. The United Nations has recognised Afghanistan as an Islamic country and the head of Afghanistan’s new government has given the assurance that decisions would be made according to Islamic Sharia,’’ AIP quoted Mr Justice Shinwari as saying. “On this basis, all three levels (district, provincial and Supreme Court) of Afghanistan’s judiciary will implement Hudood (Islamic laws) after guilt is 100 per cent proven,’’ the cleric said. “I have been told clearly by Mr Hamid Karzai that Afghanistan’s Islamic image in the world must be maintained,’’ AIP quoted Mr Justice Shinwari as saying in an interview yesterday. Mr Justice Shinwari said all cases would be decided in accordance with Islamic laws. For instance, adulterers would be stoned to death when either of them or both were married. A murderer would have to pay blood money, or be executed in the manner in which the murder victim was killed, depending on the wishes of the victim’s relatives, he said. “A thief’s hand would be cut off, and alcoholics and others would be punished under Islamic laws, but the condition would be that their crime is proved,’’ he said. Afghanistan’s ousted Taliban regime had been sharply criticised around the world for prescribing the same punishments under its interpretation of Islam.
DPA |
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Palestinian naval base attacked Gaza City, January 12 The Israeli military said the base was targeted because Palestinian naval police officers were involved in the smuggling and the attack on the soldiers. In the West Bank town of Ramallah, the Palestinian Authority announced it has detained two senior Palestinian officials for questioning in the smuggling affair. The detentions were welcomed by US officials, but greeted with skepticism by Israel, which said Palestinian smuggling efforts were continuing. Last week, Israel intercepted a freighter carrying 50 tonnes of Iranian-made weapons which the Palestinian captain said were destined for the Gaza Strip. Israel has said the Palestinian Authority and its leader, Mr Yasser Arafat, were behind the shipment of arms, which included rockets, explosives and anti-tank missiles forbidden under Israeli-Palestinian accords. But the Palestinian Authority, which has come under intense Israeli and US pressure to produce explanations and punish anyone involved, denied any links to the weapons.
AP |
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Musharraf has done little: RAW official Washington, January 12 The camps are used to train terrorists for three Pakistan-based groups fighting in Kashmir, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. He also told The Los Angeles Times that at least two of these groups had links to Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaida terrorist network. Most of the camps India wanted shut down, said The Los Angeles Times quoting sources, were in villages and towns in the PoK. They included Barakot, Bhimber, Kotli, Chilas, Astor, Gilgit, Skardu and Muzaffarabad. India says there is also a training camp in Swat in the North West Frontier Province, the paper reports. Referring to General Musharraf’s role in the US-led war of terrorism, the official said that beyond a point, Washington could not pressure General Musharraf because the entire strategy of sustaining him then got distorted. The official also said that New Delhi had provided Pakistan with underworld Don Dawood Ibrahim’s addresses in Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi and his telephone numbers, adding that he was not hard to find at all. He said the list of 20 men India wanted Pakistan to hand over had been discussed with Secretary of State Colin Powell, who was examining it.
PTI |
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UK pushing arms sales to India London, January 12 The British Government was pushing a large arms deal with India including 60 Hawk jets, worth £ 1 billion, the Guardian newspaper reported today. Britain Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon has been pressing India to make a decision on the Hawk deal. Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, scheduled to visit India next month for a conference on sustainable development, is also expected to talk about the deal, which he championed during a visit to New Delhi last year, the paper said. BAE systems, makers of the Hawk, is confident of striking a deal with the Indians as the ministers have also been pressing India behind the scenes to clinch the contract, it added. The arms push comes only a week after Mr Blair visited India and Pakistan. He expressed the hope that “We can have a calming influence” and warned of the “enormous problems the whole of the world would face if things went wrong”. British arms companies will be prominent at Defexpo 2002, an arms fair in New Delhi next month, devoted to naval and land warfare. On offer at the exhibition next month will be Howitzers, anti-aircraft guns, missiles and tanks, the Guardian said. The Society of British Aerospace Companies (BAE) is also sending a delegation to India next month to lobby New Delhi. Several hundred jobs at the BAE reportedly depend on the deal, the Guardian said. Mr Blair has also been asked to throw his weight behind the Hawk campaign, the paper said. However, the British Government has come under renewed criticism from anti-arms trade campaigners over its long-running move to sell trainer jets to India, the paper reported.
UNI |
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Hizb accuses Pak
of betrayal Islamabad, January 12 “We are carrying out a legitimate freedom struggle because Kashmir is a disputed territory under the UN Security Council resolutions,” said Hizb’s spokesman Saleem Hashmi. Syed Salahuddin, supreme commander of the group, is on the list of India’s 20 most wanted men whom New Delhi says are living in Pakistan or in PoK and has asked Islamabad to hand him over.
ANI |
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Anti-aircraft
guns atop Pak buildings Islamabad, January 12 Anti-aircraft guns have been fixed on the rooftops of almost all government college buildings in Rawalpindi and overhead water reservoirs situated in different city areas, they said. Troops have been deployed around the runway of Islamabad airport and patrolling of sensitive areas intensified.
ANI |
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‘Pujas’ for English cows London, January 12 Pandit Rajyogi Narendra has begun to perform pujas already at landfill sites in Lake district in the north of England. He has completed them at several sites where the remains of cows were buried. The foot and mouth epidemic that struck Britain early last year was described as the worst outbreak of the disease. Millions of animals were slaughtered to stop the illness from spreading. The ritualistic prayers are being conducted following special permission obtained from the board of the Cumbria Waste Management. The pandit got permission after convincing the local authorities in England that his prayers would also help save other animals and prevent the disease from spreading. “We’re delighted that Guru Raj Yogi Narendraji has taken it upon himself to come and conduct these prayers at our sites,” a spokesman for the management said. “Foot and mouth was a tragic time for all involved and anything that can help put it behind us is very welcome.” More than half a million animals are buried at the sites where the pandit is doing pujas. The authorities in England, however, are keener to save living animals than to bless those that have died. England has still not seen the last of foot and mouth. Traces of the disease were seen in animals in Northumberland, just about 70 miles north of London in recent days. More than 2,000 animals were slaughtered on the farms to prevent spread of the disease. The area where the priest is conducting a puja has been declared risk free.
IANS |
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With hearing put off, Anwar begins fasting Kuala Lumpur, January 12 “He (Mr Anwar) is upset. Justice delayed is justice denied,” Mr Sankara Nair said after visiting Mr Anwar in the Sungai Buloh prison, just north of here. Malaysia’s highest court, the Federal Court, yesterday postponed the appeal against his conviction for corruption. It was set for monday. Mr Sankara said Mr Anwar began fasting yesterday and would continue until a new date was fixed. The authorities have not announced a new date for the appeal. Mr Sankara said the prison authorities summoned him today to convince Mr Anwar to change his mind but he said “my client is adamant”. The appeal is the last legal avenue for Mr Anwar to overturn his conviction and six-year jail sentence after the Court of Appeal dismissed his case in April, 2000. The former successor to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad was convicted in April, 1999, of corruption - abusing his powers to cover up allegations of sexual misconduct - and last August was jailed for another nine years for sodomy.
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