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Wednesday,
May 22, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Any strike
by India will provoke war: Pakistan Pearl
case: prosecution drops 13 witnesses
US forces
raid Afghan ambush site |
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Lanka
ruling party sweeps local poll Sharon
fires ministers, govt in crisis Jackie
Chan wins world stunt award Indians
in Malawi seek equal rights
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Any strike by India will provoke war: Pakistan Islamabad, May 21 Military spokesman Maj-Gen Rashid Qureshi said: “Any incursions into Pakistani territory or Azad (Pakistani-occupied) Kashmir will be responded to and met with full force.” Analysts say signals from New Delhi indicate the Indian Government is determined to launch limited strikes on militant camps in PoK. “If that happens it will definitely provoke a retaliation by Pakistan and the situation can spin out of control,” political commentator Khalid Mahmood of the Islamabad-based Institute of Regional Studies said. President Pervez Musharraf has called a meeting with political leaders tomorrow when a joint session of the cabinet and the National Security Council will also review the military stand-off. “We are very close to war. It can happen anytime. It is madness at its peak,” writer and political analyst Imtiaz Alam said. The two countries already have around a million troops massed on their borders, and are waging artillery duels across the Line of Control (LoC). Defence analyst and writer Mohammad Afzal Niazi said that pressure on the Indian government for some sort of military action inside PoK was too high for it to ignore. “Neither government can afford to go down in the eyes of their public,” he said. “The Indians cannot afford to not take action after having massed troops for six months and the Pakistanis cannot afford to back down from their often repeated threat of meeting any aggression with full force.” Mahmood said India could make pre-emptive strikes against alleged militant targets in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir but it would not be within New Delhi’s means to stop a chain reaction. “I am sure the Pakistanis will not let the Indians get away with it,” he said, but added that a key factor in the spiralling tension would be the strong desire of the USA to avoid a war.
AFP |
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Pak alliance
refuses to meet
Musharraf Lahore, May 21 Alliance leader Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan today said his 15-party Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) would meet General Musharraf only if the President agreed to discuss formation of an interim government to replace the military government. “There is a national consensus that there should be an interim government and the armed forces should only defend the country’s frontiers,” he said on the fifth day of heightened tensions between the two nuclear rivals.
Reuters |
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Pearl case: prosecution drops 13 witnesses Karachi, May 21 The prosecution, before closing the case, would produce only five more witnesses, Chief Prosecutor Raja Qureshi said. In all, the prosecution had submitted a list of 38 witnesses, of them 20 have already recorded their statements and have been cross-examined by the defence team. Two more witnesses testified and cross-examined by the defence lawyers today, including one government official who handed over the laptop, used for sending the e-mails and photograph of Pearl to the US Consulate. Tomorrow, Mr Arshad Noor Khan, the first Judge appointed to try the four accused in the case, would appear in the court at the Hyderabad jail to testify as prosecution witnesses. Regional security officer of the US Consulate John Bennett would also appear in the court on Wednesday. When asked about the impact if the body recovered was identified as that of Pearl, Mr Qureshi said it was yet to be determined whose body or remains these are. The unknown body found on Friday from the eastern outskirts of Karachi is believed to be Pearl but in the absence of any direct identification, the police was waiting for the results of DNA test.
DPA |
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Sikh schoolboy wins kirpan case Vancouver, May 21 The only departure from tradition for Gurbaj Singh Multani will be that his kirpan will be encased in a blunt wooden scabbard sewn into a fabric pouch. ‘’I feel very good that I won my right. I got my right back,’’ qualified Gurbaj Singh in an interview with the “Globe and Mail” newspaper, after winning the court case. Last November, this young boy was at the centre of attention when his kirpan fell on the ground while playing. Suddenly, it seemed, the school board and parents of school children in Quebec became aware of the fact that Sikh males are required to wear kirpans. The wearing of his kirpan became controversial and the young Sikh was told he could not return to class unless he left his kirpan at home. After remaining absent for several months, Gurbaj Singh returned to his classroom in April. It was the parents and the school authorities who fought Gurbaj in court, hoping that the judge would consider the wearing of a dagger a serious danger at school. The case in Montreal upset many Sikhs who, in Ontario and British Columbia, never had a problem wearing the kirpan to school. But 12-year-old Gurbaj Singh faced the trauma of being jeered at by other parents and facing a school board, which questioned his following one of the basic injunctions for Sikh males. Wearing a kirpan has always been an issue in Canada, but other provinces have come to terms with it before Quebec. Calgary accepted the tradition in 1990 while it was accepted in Ontario in 1991. But in Quebec, which is home to a small number of Sikhs, hardly anyone seemed to know that this community wears daggers customarily. Since September 11, minorities have been scrutinised more intensely than ever and many have complained that all dark-skinned people are being viewed with suspicion. Even after Gurbaj Singh has won his case albeit transforming the way he wears a kirpan, some parents are not willing to give up the fight. ‘’Would you accept somebody with a gun, even if its sealed,’’ asked Real Nadeau, one of the parents who was quoted in the “Globe and Mail”. His two children study in the school of 450, which has 40 Sikhs. According to him, it was not an issue of racism but a real danger. Other parents called for greater integration by immigrants and criticised the Sikh community for being caught in legal battles so frequently. But for now, Gurbaj Singh and his family are happy that he is back in school.
UNI |
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US forces raid Afghan ambush site Bagram Air Base, May 21 Mr Bryan Hilferty said the search on last night in Paktia province produced intelligence leads but no arrests. “We now have some items of intelligence value,’’ he said. He didn’t elaborate. British Royal Marines in a separate sweep through the rugged mountains north of the troubled city of Khost said they had found small caches of weapons today, but there had been no engagement with Al-Qaida or Taliban forces since Operation Condor began last Friday. Sgt Gene Arden Vance, a member of the 19th Special Forces, was on reconnaissance patrol in the Shkin area with Afghan army officers when they were attacked on Sunday afternoon. Vance, (38), of West Virginia, died before he could be evacuated. Both Paktia province and the adjoining Khost have remained the focus of intense coalition activity and concern in recent weeks, in part because remnants of Taliban and Al-Qaida forces are believed hiding there and because of continued armed clashes between rival militia groups from the region. The USA launched strikes on Afghanistan last year to flush out Osama bin Laden, its prime suspect in the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, and punish his Taliban protectors.
Reuters |
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Lanka ruling party sweeps local poll Colombo, May 21 But opposition lawmakers alleged voter fraud and demanded the results of yesterday’s poll be annulled. The results were considered a big boost to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s efforts to resume talks with Tamil rebels and settle an ethnic conflict that has claimed 64,500 lives in this tropical island nation since 1983. Sri Lanka’s governing coalition now controls 240 of 311 local councils. Nearly 65 per cent of 1.13 million eligible voters took part in the elections, which were held in Colombo and other towns where polling was postponed earlier this year because of legal disputes over nominations. Lawmakers belonging to the opposition People’s Alliance and the Marxist People’s Liberation Front today held a meeting in Parliament to protest the results, disrupting proceedings for 15 minutes. Sri Lanka has a history of bloody and flawed elections. The general election in December claimed 61 lives. The police said there were 124 election-related complaints, including a murder in Ratnapura, 100 km southeast of the capital, Colombo. Most other complaints were of abuse, threats and minor injuries.
AP |
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Sharon fires ministers, govt in crisis
Jerusalem, May 21 He faced the challenge of governing with a narrowed parliamentary majority and the possible threat of having to face new elections. A fight by Mr Sharon for political survival could push to the sidelines international moves to press for reforms in the Palestinian Authority and restart peacemaking after more than 19 months of violence. Under Israeli law, the letters of dismissal go into effect tomorrow, 48 hours after they were issued — giving Mr Sharon some breathing space to try to resolve the crisis. The loss of the ultra-orthodox Shas party’s 17 votes in the 120-member parliament would reduce the Prime Minister’s support from 82 to 65 members. In a stinging defeat for Mr Sharon, parliament voted 47-44 yesterday against a 13 billion-shekel ($ 2.7 billion) package aimed at reining in a budget deficit swollen by lower tax revenues and higher defence spending due to the Palestinian uprising.
Reuters |
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Jackie Chan wins world stunt award Hong Kong, May 21 Chan, (48), won the 2002 Taurus Award for Best Action Movie Star, according to the World Stunt Awards website (www.worldstuntawards.com). Schwarzenegger, in Los Angeles, presented the honorary award on Sunday via live satellite to Chan, who was in Prague filming his new action movie ‘’Shanghai Knights’’, Chan’s spokesman said today. The award was voted on by members of the World Stunt Academy, which was formed last year to represent professional stunt actors and has nearly 1,000 members, the website said.
Reuters |
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Indians
in Malawi seek equal rights Blantyre, May 21 “We want to be identified with this country and the major turning point will be our true integration into society and political parity,” Mr Rafiq Hajat, a spokesman of the community in Malawi, said. Only two of the country’s 193 legislators are Indians.
AFP |
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