 |
Sunday,
February 3, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
|
USA, Iran
clash on Afghanistan Voting bar
on 20 nations USA asks
Lanka, LTTE to hold talks 40 Afghans
killed in group fighting
Media
curbs: Zimbabwe backtracks |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Afghan
postal service becomes functional
Palestinian naval policeman inspects damage to
the naval headquarters after it was hit by Israeli helicopters
on Saturday. — Reuters photo
|
|
USA, Iran clash on Afghanistan
New York, February 2 Iran’s Mohammad Hossein Adeli responded angrily yesterday when some delegates at a session on the future of Afghanistan said his country posed a major geopolitical risk to the stability of the war-torn country now trying to emerge from over 20 years of civil war and foreign occupation. “Accusing Iran of interference in Afghanistan in a negative way is a mistake and is ignoring the facts on the ground,’’ he said. The session had devolved into group discussions at individual tables of delegates. The accusation of Iranian meddling emerged from the table where US State Department’s Director of policy planning Richard Haass was sitting. During the discussion, Haass had said Iranian officials were active on the ground in Afghanistan, building up the forces of Herat-based warlord Ismail Khan, who controls much of the west of the country, which borders Iran. Meanwhile, terrorism and poverty dominated the agenda of the World Economic Forum on the second day yesterday with several participants contending that the two were interlinked and could only be fought through empowerment of people. The USA vowed to root out terrorism, saying that war against the scourge had just begun but it also stressed the need to fight poverty, despair and hopelessness. Addressing a panel discussion yesterday, Secretary of State Colin Powell said the USA was determined to take the war on terrorism beyond Afghanistan to any country “that threatens free men and women” but at the same time stressed the need to defeat poverty. Philippine’s President Gloria Arroyo told reporters later that terrorism could not be fought without eradicating poverty as poor nations were becoming breeding grounds for recruiting terrorists. The deliberations were under way as a strong police presence of around 5,000 officers stood ready on a rainy day to put down anti-globalisation demostrations.
Reuters, PTI |
|
Voting bar on 20 nations United Nations, February 2 The new Afghan interim government, installed just last month after more than 20 years of internecine war, is virtually broke and counting on international aid to keep it afloat while it tries to rebuild. It owes the United Nations $ 4,600 in regular budget and peacekeeping assessments. Another four countries — Burundi adn Comoros in Africa and Georgia and Moldove in Eastern Europe — were allowed to keep voting despite big unpaid dues bills, on ground that their failure to pay was due to conditions beyond their control.
Reuters |
|
USA asks Lanka, LTTE to hold talks
Washington, February 2 Receiving the Sri Lankan Economic Reforms Minister Milinda Moragoda here yesterday, US Acting Secretary of State Richard Armitage said Washington fully supported the peace efforts backed by Norway. On the question of possible de-proscription of the LTTE, Mr Armitage said the US policy would be unaffected should the Government of Sri Lanka decide to remove its ban on the organisation. He also reiterated his country’s support for the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka. COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has stoutly defended her personal security officers against serious charges levelled by the police, signalling signs of trouble in her ties with the Ranil Wickremesinghe government. The elite Presidential Security Division (PSD) has come under police investigation in recent days and an arrest warrant is out for its Director, Superintendent of Police Nihal Karunaratne, on a charge of threatening to kill a police officer in the run-up to last December’s parliamentary poll. “An organised campaign is on to brand the President a murderer and to brand the PSD as a gang of murderers, bringing various false allegations against them,” Ms Kumaratunga’s office said in a statement on Friday. The President has already taken up the matter with Mr Wickremesinghe at a meeting with him on Thursday to “make him aware of the acts of violence” against supporters of her People’s Alliance that was ousted from power last month.
PTI |
|
40 Afghans killed
in group fighting
Kabul, February 2 They said fighting broke out yesterday between commanders loyal to the Junbish-i-Millie group of Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum and Ustad Mohammad Atta of the Jamiat-i-Islami. “It was not major fighting to become a cause of concern,’’ said Mr Bahrami, an official from a third group, not involved in the fighting, the Hezb-i-Wahdat. “Only between 30 to 40 men from both sides have been killed,’’ he added. The clashes took place in Sholgara, south of Mazar-i-Sharif, Chimtal to the west and Dawlatabad to the north. Mr Bahrami said the fighting had ended after both sides sent delegations to discuss the matter, describing it as battle for territory between rival factions. Mr Sibghatullah Zaki, a spokesman for Mr Dostum, confirmed the fighting but not the casualties. Dostum’s and Atta’s troops marched into Mazar-i-Sharif when the Taliban were forced out by intense US bombing in November. Since then, relations between them have been reported as tense with both sides seeking control of disputed areas they had lost earlier to the Taliban.
Reuters |
|
Media curbs: Zimbabwe backtracks
Harare (Zimbabwe), February 2 The Herald newspaper, an official mouthpiece used to publicise official policy, said it learnt from the office of the Attorney-General, government’s chief law officer, the Bill “may take quite some time before it becomes law, if at all.” The laws, widely condemned by the international community and journalists, still have to be signed into law by President Robert Mugabe. The laws were passed by the Harare Parliament on Thursday with last-minute amendments that were “rushed through without proper consultation,” the Herald said. Critics say the media Bill and new security laws enforced since January 18 were part of a package of legislation aimed at stifling dissent ahead of presidential elections to be held on March 9-10. Mr Mugabe,77, is fighting for his political survival as his popularity wanes after nearly 22 years of authoritarian rule. The proposed legislation makes it illegal for journalists to operate without government accreditation. It creates a state-appointed commission with disciplinary powers to withdraw licences, confiscate equipment and jail journalists for up to two years. It also limits foreign journalists, allowing them to visit only for limited periods on specified assignments cleared first by Zimbabwe embassies in their home countries.
AP |
|
Afghan postal service
becomes functional Kabul, February 2 "We are trying to provide a good service and deliver letters on time for anyone who pays - inside and outside the country," said postmaster Mohammad Gulam Safi. Hundreds of customers queued up at 18 post offices which opened in the capital to buy stamps or make international telephone calls. Letter writers did brisk business on the pavements outside, while vendors selling pens and paper quickly staked out their patches. Mohammad Gulam Safi said the postal service was likely to face problems at the start because it was so short of equipment. He said the office did not even have a scale to weigh letters or a rubber stamp to validate postage. "International post offices should cooperate with us,” he added.
Reuters |
|
PLO naval HQ attacked Gaza City, February 2 No injuries were reported in the attack which severely damaged the naval police building. The Israeli attack was in response to Palestinian militant activity in the area, including mortar fire on a nearby Israeli army post.
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 | | 122 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
During a search and destroy mission,
US Navy SEALs discover a large cache of munitions in one of more than 50 caves explored in the Zhawar Kili
area on January 14, 2002. Used by al-Qaida and Taliban forces, the caves and above-ground complexes were subsequently destroyed through air strikes called in by the SEALs.
— Reuters
In Video
OLDEST NEWLYWEDS
