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Friday,
July 19, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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USA not to
declare Pak terrorist state Admiral
Ramdas moots J&K peace plan WINDOW ON PAKISTAN
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30 Indians
freed from captivity
Planes
bomb Afghan village, one killed 2 papers
shut down for obscenity
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USA not to declare Pak terrorist state
Washington, July 18 “As far as putting Pakistan on the terrorism list, just to point out again, Pakistan has been a very stalwart ally in the fight against terrorism,” US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters here. His comment came close on the heels of Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani’s statement in the Lok Sabha on July 16 saying that if the USA had threatened to declare Pakistan a terrorist state, Islamabad would have certainly taken effective steps to dismantle terrorist infrastructure within its territory. Mr Boucher said infiltration across the Line of Control was down ever since Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf pledged to halt it, adding that further steps be taken to stop it permanently. “As we have mentioned before, President Musharraf has assured us that infiltration across the Line of Control will be ended permanently. We continue to look to him to take the steps to make that effective.” Mr Boucher said. Mr Boucher said the issues Washington looked forward to discussing with New Delhi and Islamabad included the relationship that “we have with each of these governments, each of these countries separately; how we work with Pakistan on its role and its position, the reforms that it is undertaking, the support that we can give to that, how we work with India on the developing relationship we have with India.” ISLAMABAD: The USA has said it will not press Islamabad for the extradition of Britain-born militant Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh in connection with the kidnapping and murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl as Sheikh was already facing a death sentence in Pakistan. An anti-terrorism court in Hyderabad passed the verdict on Monday in which it also sentenced three of Sheikh’s associates to life imprisonment. They have seven days to move the high court against the verdict. A US State Department official on Wednesday said, “We are waiting for the outcome of the case. After all he is under a death sentence,’’ the daily Dawn reported on Thursday. Asked if America will still insist for the extradition if a high court endorsed the verdict, the State Department official said, “Think about it, what does the approval of a death sentence mean?’’ On March 14, a federal grand jury in Trenton, New Jersey, had indicted Omar on the charges of kidnapping Daniel, who was working for the Wall Street Journal. Earlier, the department’s spokesperson Richard Boucher told reporters that Washington’s decision to follow up on its extradition request would “depend on the outcome of the Pakistani political process and assuming there is an appeal (against the verdict) that may be some time down the road.’’ NEW YORK: Judea Pearl, father of slain reporter Daniel Pearl, has said the guilty verdicts against four men involved in the murder have proved to the world that Pakistan has the strength to subdue terrorism and secure justice and dignity for its people. He said in a letter that the verdicts were a “collective moral statement of historical significance.’’ It was published by the Wall Street Journal, the paper for which his son worked.
Agencies |
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Admiral
Ramdas moots J&K peace plan Washington, July 18 At a press briefing at the National Press Club here today, Admiral Ramdas proposed that the people on both sides of the Indo-Pakistan border would be given the choice of whether they wanted to be citizens of India or Pakistan and if they wanted to move from one side to another, be given the opportunity to do so in peace and security. To implement this Admiral Ramdas suggested that both countries should agree to some form of international supervision and this role could, perhaps be performed by a SAARC monitoring team. Under the plan, those displaced from their lands and homes by the current conflict, such as the Kashmiri pundits, could be allowed to return to their homes in peace and security. And finally, the border between India and Pakistan in Kashmir should be kept porous to enable Kashmiris on both sides to cross it for personal, family and business reasons without too many has
sales. “In this way we can facilitate the expression of the wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, “Admiral Ramdas said. The Line of Control in Kashmir, with minor modifications could be regularised as the international border between India and Pakistan. In other words, it would be recognised as the de jure result of what had been a de facto partition of Jammu and Kashmir. But on a more serious note, the former naval chief said there was no military solution to the Kashmir issue and it was terribly important that both India and Pakistan entered into a dialogue. He also proposed that both countries should reaffirm pledges to negotiate all outstanding issues between them peacefully and not resort to war, proxy or otherwise. This meant, first of all, a ceasefire along the Line of Control. Pakistan would agree to a policy of no-first use of nuclear weapons, which India had already adopted. This, he noted, was the equivalent of a nuclear ceasefire. Admiral
Ramdas, chairperson of the Indian Chapter of the Pakistan India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy and a member of the National Committee of India’s Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace, stressed that only sustained peace could lift the clouds of war and the threat of nuclear incineration of South Asia. |
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WINDOW ON PAKISTAN For President Pervez Musharraf there seems to be no limit to the powers he can usurp for himself. Right now he is the army chief, head of state and the single most important person ordering his kind of constitution for the beleaguered state of Pakistan. From day one, the Supreme Court has been at his beck and call, putting a stamp on all possible amendments, Musharraf could think for the 1973 constitution. The Chief Election Commissioner has most willingly played to his tunes. First was the election of Nazims and then was the infamous referendum. The Commissioner never said no .In fact, besides the army the civil administration has been happy playing the happy second fiddle since October, 1999, when Musharraf seized power. But somewhere this commando turned politician feels insecure. The more he assumes powers, the less powerful he becomes. He then starts dismantling the system in order to create a new more secure one. This game has gone on. Now through the second most important amendment, he is designing a full-fledged constitutional role for himself and for the army. In future, as some commentators suggested coup d’etat would not be called unconstitutional. Writing in the Dawn, Mahir Ali called this rule by degrees and decrees. He said:, “The bachelor’s degree requirement is, on the face of it, less indefensible. And it is hardly an insurmountable hurdle. It ought to do no harm if the assembly chambers are populated exclusively by educated folk. However, there are few good reasons for assuming that BA-holders are necessarily more knowledgeable, wiser or intellectually better equipped than the rest of the population. It would therefore be fallacious to jump to the conclusion that they would make superior legislators.” The proposed decree that no person will be allowed to hold prime ministerial office more than twice is open to criticism on similar grounds. It is obviously no coincidence that Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif have each served two truncated terms in that capacity. All four stints proved to be disastrous in a variety of ways. In the opinion of many Pakistanis, including General Pervez Musharraf, neither of them deserves another go at the helm. But, surely, such a matter ought to be decided in the court of public opinion rather than at the whim of a military ruler, least of all one who has a vested interest in keeping both of them out of power. One does not need to add any other comment to see Musharraf’s gameplan. But what he is aiming is very interesting to know here is what another columnist, Absar Alam, said in the Nation. “The second constitutional amendments package, made public on Sunday, would authorise the President to make appointments at all key constitutional posts. A second package of proposed constitutional amendment packages, unfolded by the government for a public debate, recommended that the President will appoint the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Chief of Army Staff, Vice Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Air Staff, Vice-Chief of Air Staff, Chief of Naval Staff, Vice-Chief of Naval Staff, Chief Election Commissioner, Auditor-General of Pakistan, Chairman Federal Public Services Commission, Supreme Judicial Council, and Chairman National Accountability Bureau.” In addition to these powers, the President will also have the authority to appoint the provincial Governors, nominate the Prime Minister at the federal level directly and the Chief Ministers at the provincial levels indirectly through the Governors appointed by him. The President already has the power to appoint the senior most judge of the Supreme Court as the Chief Justice. The President in his discretion will make the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner under Article 215, after soliciting the views of the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly. The appointment of the CEC will be for a single fixed term of five years. The Federal Government has proposed another amendment for the appointment of the Governor State Bank of Pakistan and Members of Central Board of Revenue for a single term of Five Years. The President, in his discretion, will be authorised to remove them after consultation with the Prime Minister. Any member of the parliamentary party can be disqualified and will cease to be a member of his Political Party if he dissociates himself from the party and even votes contrary to any direction of his party. According to the second phase of the amendments, a member of any party will also be disqualified if he abstains from voting in the House against parliamentary party policy. The government also proposed amendments in Article 63A of the constitution and now the Speaker will refer the case of disqualification of any member on the request of the leader of the party and refer it to Election Commission to take a final decision within 30 days. According to the second constitutional amendment package, the government has proposed to make it mandatory for parliament to enact a law for creating a mechanism for enabling the Council to “formulate and regulate policies” and “exercise supervision and control” over the institutions related to the subjects assigned to it. |
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30 Indians freed from captivity Washington, July 18 The Indians, without proper visas, were working for a pickle factory on half the minimum wages and were denied adequate food, NBC-TV reported. They were made to sleep in a small room in a warehouse and locked in, with a guard outside, it said. Some of them escaped from the compound and went to a nearby church to tell their tale of woe. One of those in the church happened to be a former US Justice Department official in the Civil Rights Division, who contacted the authorities and had them released.
PTI |
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Five dead in two suicide attacks
Tel Aviv, July 18 The attack took place last night in the old central bus station area in Tel Aviv where many foreign workers live. Most of the injured were foreign workers, the police said. The suicide bombers blew themselves up at a distance of 15-20 metres apart on the busy street. The explosion was horrible and there was blood everywhere, an eyewitness told Israel television. The attack came a day after three Palestinian gunmen ambushed a bus at a Jewish settlement near Nablus killing eight and wounding 15. Mr David Baker, an official in the Prime Minister’s office, placed the blame for the attack squarely on the Palestinian authorities. The Palestinian authorities denounced the attack, but cautioned Israel to share the blame. “We condemn this operation. This will not help the Palestinian people. But Israel bears part of the responsibility because of its continued occupation of our territories and towns,” Mr Ahmed Abdelrahman, Cabinet Secretary, Palestinian Authority, said. US officials in Washington said they were monitoring the situation and described the attack as a “despicable act of terrorism.”
PTI |
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Planes bomb Afghan village, one killed
Islamabad, July 18 Molvi Ahmad was killed when a bomb hit the house of his brother, Noor Mohammad, in Pirakhel village in Khogiani district, about 55 kilometres west of the provincial capital of Jalalabad. Noor Mohammad was the administrator of Dara Noor district of the province under the Taliban regime, but had cooperated with the USA-led operations against the Taliban and Al-Qaida remnants in Tora Bora. He had developed some differences with the USA-backed authorities in Nagarhar. Security forces conducted house-to-house searches after the bombing and reinforcements were seen leaving Jalalabad towards the area, the agency said.
DPA |
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2 papers shut down for obscenity Karachi, July 18 The police raided the offices of the two Urdu-language newspapers, the Morning Special and the Evening Special, and found obscene material. The newspaper offices were sealed and publication was suspended for 30 days. The Editors could face up to six months in jail and a fine of Rs 5,000 if convicted of violating Pakistan’s obscenity laws.
AP |
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