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| Tuesday,
July 16, 2002, Chandigarh, India   
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It’s
Muslims vs rest of the world: Sheikh Omar USA, UK
oppose death verdict
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Amendments
to give more powers to Pervez Pak no to
India’s plea on river water Restore
reserved seats: minorities USA bent
on sidelining Arafat Bin
Laden wounded, but alive: editor Turkish
PM may step down
A Moroccan flag flies
on Sunday on top of the disputed islet Perejil, which was occupied by Moroccan troops on Friday and which is claimed by Morocco and Spain. Spain considered trade sanctions and tightening its frontiers to Moroccans.
— Reuters photo Acquitted
US scribe expelled
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It’s Muslims vs rest of the world: Sheikh Omar
Hyderabad, July 15 In a message given to reporters today by his lawyer, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh — better known as Sheikh Omar — also said that anyone who tried to carry out his death sentence faced a similar fate. “I will see whether who wants to kill me will first kill me or get himself killed,” his lawyer, Rai Bashir, quoted him as saying. “I have been saying before, this entire (trial) is just waste of time. I fought the case...just to please my father. It is decisive war between Islam and kafir (infidels) and everyone is individually proving on which side he is,” he said. Pearl was kidnapped while researching a story for the Wall Street Journal in January this year. Sheikh Omar was sentenced to death for his kidnap and murder, while three of his accomplices were sentenced to life in prison. Meanwhile, a brother of one of four defendants found guilty of the murder of the US reporter called on Muslims to rise up against the verdict. Sheikh Aslam, brother of one of the accomplices, Sheikh Adil, said he had been expecting the guilty verdict because of government pressure on the court. “If there had been an honest decision, then no one would have been convicted,” he told Reuters. “Pakistanis and Muslims should now rise up because the government has bent its knees before America.” The streets of Hyderabad were quiet after the verdict was announced. SINGAPORE: The family of U.S. reporter Daniel Pearl welcomed Monday’s conviction of four Islamic militants for his kidnap and murder and said they hoped all involved in the killing would be brought to justice. The web site of the Daniel Pearl Foundation published a statement from the family and said the family members were unavailable for media interviews at this time. “We, the parents, wife, and sisters of Daniel Pearl, are grateful for the tireless efforts by authorities in Pakistan and the USA to bring those guilty of Danny’s kidnapping and murder to justice,” the statement said. “Today’s verdict is the first chapter in this process. We hope and trust that the search for the remaining abductors and murderers will continue, so that all accomplices in this unthinkable crime will be brought to justice,” it added. A court in Pakistan sentenced British-born Islamic militant Sheikh Omar, to death for the kidnap and murder of Pearl. The court jailed three accomplices for life. Pearl’s widow, Mariane, gave birth to their son, Adam, in Paris on May 28. “We
are confident that around the world people will continue to be
inspired by Danny’s courage and commitment to truth, humanity, and
dialogue and we call upon them to rise against all forms of hatred and
intolerance,” the statement said.
Reuters |
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USA, UK oppose death verdict London, July 15 But the British government was forced into opposing the sentence. British law does not permit capital punishment, and the country is bound by its constitution to oppose the passing of a death sentence anywhere in the world. The Foreign Office, accordingly, sent in a protest over the death sentence. Britain-born Sheikh, who was convicted Monday of murdering Wall Street Journal reporter Pearl in January, has earned anything but sympathy here. There was little sign of any opposition within the media or in the public to the order against him. Both Britain and the U.S.A have opposed the death sentence, although for different reasons. The U.S. authorities want Sheikh alive, and in their hands, to interrogate him over links with Al-
Qaida. U.S. officials fear that if he is executed, invaluable knowledge about the terrorist network will die with him. The U.S. fears that Pakistan wants him executed in order to hide his links with the Inter-Services Intelligence. They believe the interrogation of Sheikh could also lead to groups that are planning attacks in the U.S.A Britain and India. The British government has sought the permission of the Pakistani authorities to interrogate Sheikh. But with such permission denied even to the U.S.A it was never likely that the British police would be given access to him even though Sheikh is a British citizen. London is reported to have informally asked for the extradition of Sheikh to Britain. But Pakistan has refused. The membership of the Commonwealth gives the British Government a legal basis to ask for the extradition. But given its partial suspension from the Commonwealth, the British Government has found itself without a legal base to seek the extradition. As for the U.S. demand for his extradition, according to The Times, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf reportedly told a close aide: “I’d rather hang him myself than hand him over.” A death sentence on Sheikh cuts off possible links to several networks of young Islamist groups in Britain. Many among them have boasted openly that they have been volunteering to join terrorist camps in Pakistan and the West Asia.
IANS |
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Amendments to give more powers to Pervez
Islamabad, July 15 The second amendment package, released by the National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB), suggested modifications in articles dealing with the Legislative List and the Council of Common Interest, and allowing the Supreme Judicial Council to initiate inquiries on its own. The NRB, which has already suggested a plethora of constitutional amendments in the first package, further proposed that bringing about any change in the Constitution by Parliament should be made difficult. It was proposed that the power to appoint armed forces’ chiefs and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee should be given back to the President, who had enjoyed it before the 13th Amendment was introduced by the Nawaz Sharif government. The President would not only have the power to appoint the services chiefs but also the vice-chiefs. To provide protection to the constitutional offices, the package suggested that heads of all such institutions be appointed by the President on his discretion. The President would have the authority to direct NAB to investigate offences of corruption, recover proceeds acquired through corruption by a public servant, member of the elected body, or the holder of a public office. The package proposed retaining power of the party leader to declare that a member had defected but not merely on the grounds that he had spoken against the party policy.
PTI |
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Pak no to India’s plea on river water
Islamabad, July 15 According to the Indus Water Treaty, 1960, India cannot change the flow of the Neelum river even for power generation, if doing so affects any Pakistani power project. However, in the absence of any such project, India can do so, the Dawn newspapers reported today. India wants the diversion of Neelum waters for power generation in Kashmir. It has assured Pakistan that there will be no storage and the diverted water will be re-routed into the Neelum through the Wullar Barrage. However, Islamabad will have to immediately start the construction of the power project in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir if it does not want India to divert the Neelum waters. Chief Engineering Adviser and Chairman of the Federal Flood Commission Riaz Ahmad Khan said the Wapda, in consultation with the government, was working on a war-footing to arrange finances for the project. He said once Pakistan started the construction of the project, India could not divert the river waters. Pakistan had presented its views on the subject during the permanent Indus Commission meeting over a month ago as it believed the diversion would affect the Neelum-Jhelum project because of the proximity between the two, the daily said. It had quoted sources saying that the diversion of Neelum waters by India would not reduce the overall water level in the river on the Pakistani side of the Line of Control, but would affect the river flow and a decline in the river flow would reduce the pressure required to generate electricity.
UNI |
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Restore
reserved seats: minorities Islamabad, July 15 The late military ruler, Gen
Zia-ul-Haq, has amended the Constitution and created a separate electoral system for the minorities under which seats were reserved for them in Parliament and provincial assemblies. But the present regime termed the reservation system discriminatory and started a joint electoral system. Under the new system, the minorities, which constitute 9 per cent of Pakistan’s 140 million population, will have to contest along with the Muslim majority. “It would be almost impossible for the minorities to get elected in the present system,” said Mr Shahbaz Clement
Bhatti, head of the newly formed All-Pakistan Minorities Alliance. “I don’t think that under the new system, any minority member would be able to make it to Parliament,” he said. He said the present system should be changed or political parties in Pakistan should accommodate religious minorities in the joint electorate in such a way that their representation could be ensured in the legislatures. He also demanded a share for minority women in the 33 per cent quota reserved for women in all elected bodies of the country. The government has reserved 33 per cent seats for women in all elected bodies, including Parliament, provincial assemblies and local governments, through recent amendments. “There should be a quota for minority women as well,” said Mr
Bhatti, who is also the Chairman of the Christian Liberation Front (CLF). But a spokesman for the National Reconstruction Bureau said this was not possible, as the government had scrapped reservation to end discrimination between the Muslim majority and the minorities in Pakistan.
IANS |
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USA bent on sidelining Arafat
New York, July 15 Mr Powell is encouraging the drafting of a plan that would give the Palestinians a state while moving Mr Arafat into a figurehead presidency with limited powers, officials here said. Under a new draft constitution, written by Palestinian-American lawyers with Saudi funding, a Palestinian parliament would be elected and it would appoint a Prime Minister, whose name could then be forwarded to the President, Mr Arafat, for formal approval, Newsweek quoted top US officials as saying. Washington, the officials said, badly wanted to avoid the embarrassment of having Mr Arafat run for election, in which most observers predict a comprehensive Arafat victory. US State Department officials, the report says, hope to get the Europeans and Russians to support this plan, along with major Arab allies, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The aging Palestinian leader would then face a tough quid pro quo from the international community — step aside in return for gaining early statehood. The real question is whether prominent Palestinians can be found to “pink-slip” Mr Arafat, and whether Palestinian and Arab officials will demand that Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon withdraw his troops from the occupied areas first. Israel has ruled out a withdrawal until elections are held, while Palestinians have maintained that they cannot conduct the poll until Tel Aviv pulls out its troops from Palestinian areas. But US officials said the Saudis, Egyptians and Jordanians, worried by the growing violence, were eager to see the creation of a provisional state as early as possible. Also expected this week is the inauguration by the West Asia “diplomatic quartet” — the USA, the EU, Russia and the UN — of an international task force for reforms in the Palestinian territories.
PTI |
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Bin Laden wounded, but alive: editor London, July 15 Abdel-Bari Atwan, editor of the London-based Al-Quds al-Arabi magazine, said Laden’s followers had told him that Osama would not appear on video again until his Al-Qaida group had launched another attack on the USA. “His people said he was wounded in the shoulder by shrapnel. He is in good health now,” Atwan told Reuters. He said the injury was sustained during a USA-led assault on his headquarter in the Tora Bora mountains in eastern Afghanistan in December. “They said Laden would not appear in a video and just say words. He will make another appearance only after his people attack the Americans again,” he said. Atwan said Laden’s followers were now seeking maximum publicity through an attack on the USA, and were trying to capitalise on Arab fury with the USA for its support for Israel and its plan to topple Iraq’s
leadership. “They said they would attack and take advantage of the political climate in the Arab world at a time when there is a lot of hatred against USA”, Atwan said.
Reuters |
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Turkish
PM may step down Istanbul, July 15 The ailing premier told Milliyet newspaper the possible departure of Economy Minister Kemal Dervis, the torch-bearer of a $ 16 billion IMF pact, could prompt his resignation amid an exodus from his Democratic Left Party (DSP). Seven ministers and some 35 deputies have abandoned Ecevit’s party in the last week after a fight with nationalist government allies over EU reforms prompted calls for November polls. Ecevit’s three-party coalition now has a majority of around a dozen seats in the 550-member Grand National Assembly.
Reuters |
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A bone of discord over isle Madrid, July 15 In his first comments since Morocco occupied the tiny uninhabited rock on Thursday, Aznar told parliament in the annual state of the nation speech that he would not accept this fait accompli and he expected cross-party support. But in Rabat, Morocco said later it had no intention of withdrawing its troops from the islet, known to Moroccans as Leila and to Spaniards as Perejil, meaning parsley. “Morocco will not for the time being withdraw the observation post from Leila,” Foreign Minister Mohamed Benaissa told a news conference in his first official comments on the diplomatic spat. He did say his government wanted to use “all diplomatic channels” to resolve the dispute — echoing Madrid’s insistence on trying to keep the row within the bounds of diplomacy. Aznar, speaking a day after Spain sent a fourth warship to protect its neighbouring North African enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta, told Parliament the dispute would only damage relations between the two trade partners if it persisted. Rabat says it deployed a team of around a dozen soldiers on Perejil to tackle immigration and terrorism in the 20 km Strait of Gibraltar separating Spain and North Africa. Moroccan soldiers have set up tents and raised the Moroccan flag over Perejil, which lies just 200 metres from the mainland. Spain has stopped short of claiming full sovereignty over the islet, but Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio said earlier that the status of the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla was not up for discussion. Spanish rule over Ceuta and Melilla is “undisputed in the international arena and indisputable,” she said. EU president Denmark expressed its full solidarity with Spain on Saturday.
Reuters |
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Acquitted
US scribe expelled Harare, July 15 “The government has told me they revoked my permanent residence permit,” Andrew Meldrum, the Zimbabwe correspondent of Britain’s Guardian newspaper, told reporters after he met with immigration officials.
Reuters |
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