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Tuesday,
December 10, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Indonesia, Aceh rebels ink landmark pact
UN inspectors revisit N-site |
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India jumped gun: Malaysian Judge Kuala Lumpur, December 9 A Malaysian Judge hearing the case of extradition of Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi to India said today that the Indian and Malaysian Governments had jumped the gun by not establishing the fact whether the charge of corruption was considered a criminal offence under the Malaysian law.
Al-Qaida claims Kenya attacks Laden outsells Bush 6 Afghan kids die of cold Keith Tyson wins Turner Prize
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Indonesia, Aceh rebels ink landmark pact Geneva, December 9 The pact, mediated by the Geneva-based Henry Dunant Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, was signed at the centre’s lakeside headquarters by the representatives of the Indonesian government and the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in the presence of Western diplomats. “It is a historic day for the people of Aceh,” said Martin Griffiths, director of the centre — an impartial international organisation. The pact, which took two years to negotiate, calls for ceasefire of 26-year separatist war and elections in 2004 in the oil- and gas-rich province at the northern tip of Sumatra Island. Rebels must disarm over seven months and a monitoring team made up of rebel, Indonesian and foreign representatives would ensure that the ceasefire holds. “Both sides explicitly express their commitment...to cease hostilities and all forms of violence toward each other and the people in Aceh,” read the six-page peace accord. While past attempts have failed to end a conflict in which thousands, mainly Aceh civilians, have died in the past two decades, analysts say the Geneva deal has more chance of success. They point to strong international support for the accord, including from the USA, and the desire of President Megawati Sukarnoputri’s government to show progress toward stability as it battles to hold together a poor, ethnically and religiously diverse nation of 215 million. The world’s largest Muslim nation has suffered extremist attacks, including the car bombing in Bali in which over 190 persons died and which has been blamed on groups linked to the Al-Qaida network. The chief negotiator Wiryono Sastrohandoyom, however, warned that the hardest part was beginning. “Although the agreement is called a ‘cessation of hostilities’...there is still a great deal of work to be done...before we can say durable peace has been enshrined in Aceh”. Zaini Abdullah, chief negotiator for the separatist rebels in the staunchly Muslim province of 4.2 million persons was also cautious in remarks to the signing ceremony. “The document we are signing is a first step,” he said. The key outstanding disagreement, left unresolved by the peace plan, is that the rebels want independence, while Jakarta is only prepared to grant special autonomy.
Reuters |
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UN inspectors revisit N-site
Baghdad, December 9 Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) drove to Al-Tuweitha nuclear facility, 20 km south of the Iraqi capital. The experts had inspected the Tuweitha Nuclear Research Centre, the main nuclear programme facility, twice last week. It was not known why they returned. Tuweitha is the location of the Osirak reactor bombed by Israel in 1981. Several tonnes of uranium have been under seal by the IAEA at Tuweitha since 1998. Another team from the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) headed to an undisclosed location, 10 km to the northwest of Baghdad. The nuclear section of the dossier, meanwhile, arrived at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, where nuclear experts began studying it. The UN Security Council in a surprise move has permitted five permanent members uncensored access to the documents, as per a report from the United Nations. The head of the weapons inspection agency, UNMOVIC, Mr Hans Blix, was on hand to receive the 12,000-page document, sealed in two black suitcases, as they were brought to the UN Headquarters. The inspectors would access whether Iraq had complied with the UN resolutions on its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) as claimed. The Security Council in an unexpected move agreed to give the USA, Russia, France, China and Britain uncensored access to the Iraqi declaration. The other 10 council members, including Iraq’s neighbour Syria, will only see the declaration once it is translated, analysed and gleaned of sensitive material.
Reuters, PTI |
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India jumped gun: Malaysian Judge Kuala Lumpur, December 9 Hearing arguments on a review petition of a lower court’s verdict rejecting Ottavio Quattrocchi’s extradition, Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge Augustine Paul also asked the lawyers to define what a special judge in India meant by saying that there was a prima facie case against the businessman in the Bofors payoff scandal. “When you come tomorrow for the proceedings you must tell me what is the meaning of ‘prima facie’ as used by the Special Judge in India,” Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge, Augustine Paul, said referring to the warrant issued by a Special Judge in New Delhi. Mr Justice Paul also asked the lawyers to explain if the charge of corruption was considered criminal offence under the Malaysian law. The Malaysian Attorney-General is representing India in the case. He said Indian and Malaysian Governments had jumped the gun by not establishing this before launching the extradition case two years ago. The Judge asked Kamarulhisham Kamaruddin, deputy public prosecutor, to establish whether the crime Ottavio Quattrocchi was accused of was considered an offence in Malaysia, adding that there might be no local equivalent. “We have to find the Malaysian equivalent of the offences the defendant (Quattrocchi) is alleged to have committed under Indian laws,” he said.
PTI |
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Al-Qaida claims Kenya attacks Dubai, December 9 “I hereby confirm what has been issued by the Al Qaida political office regarding our responsibility for the Mombasa attacks in Kenya,” leading Al Qaida member Sulaiman Bu Ghaith said in an audio statement released by Islamist Website
www.jehad.net. “The Christian-Jewish alliance will not, God willing, be safe from attacks by the
mujahideen. The alliance’s installations and facilities everywhere will be subject to attacks,” he said. “The next phase will witness bigger and more lethal operations,” he added. The Web site has in the past carried statements by Muslim militants, including Al Qaida.
Reuters |
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Laden outsells Bush Americans may hate Osama bin Laden and like to capture him alive or dead, but they seem to prefer his lookalike doll to that of President Bush. According to US media reports, a Connecticut company marketing dolls featuring likenesses of the terrorist, President Bush, New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Laden has taken a lead in sales. “Osama is outselling everyone else combined. That is the USA for you,” Emil Vicale, president of Herobuilders.com, was quoted by Worldnet Daily, as saying, “Maybe they (the Americans) want to blow him up, “Sales of the lookalikes are said to be in the thousands since making their debut on the Internet on March 13. The plastic figure resembling Blair has yet to sell a single doll. White House aides have sent a stem legal letter warning the Connecticut firm not infringe the President’s “image rights.” |
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6 Afghan kids die of cold Chaman, December 9 “The children died at Spinboldak refugee camp on the Afghan side of the border during the past few days,” Mohammad Abdullah, who travelled to Chaman from the Spinboldak camp, said. The camp is home to some 35,000 refugees, Abdullah said. He said the children died a day before the Islamic festival of Id-ul-Fitr. The refugees had no access to proper food, sanitation or heating facilities, he added.
AP |
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Keith Tyson wins Turner Prize
London, December 9 |
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