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Friday,
January 24, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Pak most dangerous country: US expert USA tells Pak to check infiltration Pak: no tit-for-tat missile tests Inaction plagues disarmament body
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‘No capital
punishment to
extradited’ India, France to sign extradition treaty Beer works just as well as wine
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Pak most dangerous country: US expert Washington, January 23 An article by noted investigative journalist Seymour Hersh in the latest issue of the magazine quoted the expert as having said there was an “awful lot of Al-Qaida sympathy within Pakistan’s nuclear programme. “Right now, the most dangerous country in the world is Pakistan. If we’re incinerated next week, it’ll be because of the HEU (highly enriched uranium) that was given to the Al-Qaida by Pakistan,” the article said. The article titled, “What the administration knew about Pakistan and the North Korean nuclear programme” quoted a top secret CIA document, saying that since 1997, Pakistan had been sharing sophisticated technology, warhead design information and weapon-testing data with the Pyongyang regime. “Pakistan, one of the Bush Administration’s important allies in the war against terrorism, was helping North Korea build the bomb,” it said, noting that the document’s most politically sensitive information was about Pakistan. The document known as “National Intelligence Estimate” was classified as top secret and was for distribution within the government. Hersh quoted a former Pakistani official telling him that his government’s contacts with North Korea increased dramatically in 1997 when Pakistan’s economy had floundered and there was “no more money” to pay for North Korean missile support.
PTI |
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USA tells Pak to check infiltration Karachi, January 23 “Pakistan must ensure its pledges are implemented to prevent infiltration across the Line of Control and end the use of Pakistan as a platform for terrorism,” said Mr Nancy Powell, US Ambassador to Pakistan. “I cannot overstate the importance of all parties working to end the culture of violence that afflicts Kashmir,” Mr Powell told a lunch meeting of top businessmen at the American Business Council here. “We continue to look for ways to encourage peace in Kashmir. One important step could be a ceasefire along the LoC,” she said.
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Pak: no tit-for-tat missile tests Islamabad, January 23 “Recent missile tests by India do not warrant a response as Pakistan’s missile programme is guided by its own technical dynamics. Tests will be conducted whenever a technical validation is necessitated,” President Pervez Musharraf said at a meeting of the Development Control Committee of the NCA yesterday. The committee also approved a slew of measures to enhance physical security and ensure effectiveness of watertight safety of materials, an official statement said here today.
PTI |
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Inaction plagues disarmament body AS the world moves on, the Conference on Disarmament remains “frozen”, unable to act. As a result, there is growing frustration among member states. This message comes from the current president of the conference, Mr Rakesh Sood, Indian ambassador at the United Nations in Geneva. Mr Sood told the opening session of the conference on Tuesday that his interactions with delegations since the adjournment of last year’s session had shown a growing consensus that the problem facing the conference was a “political” problem and efforts had been made to surmount the political impasse, but had not succeeded. The UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, in his message conveyed his disappointment and frustration at the protracted lack of agreement on a programme of work which had blocked the substantive work of the conference on all
issues on its agenda—even those on which agreement to start negotiations existed, such as a ban on the production of fissile materials for weapon purposes. The Secretary-General noted that 2003 marked the 25th anniversary of the first Special Session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament, and the 25th session of the Conference on Disarmament. “This is a significant milestone, but it is not an excuse for complacency,” he said, adding that, “International peace and security continue to face profound challenges in the form of weapons of mass destruction and the delivery vehicles, rising military expenditures, the prospect of an arms race in outer space, and the continual development of new weapons systems.” He expressed the hope that 2003 would mark a turning point in the history of the conference. He said the time was ripe to reinvigorate the sense of purpose in arms limitation and disarmament efforts that were shaped 25 years ago. Revitalising the conference, he said, required renewed political will and determination among member states. The current session of the Conference will last until March 28. |
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Kuwaiti held for American’s murder Kuwait, January 23 Kuwaiti officials said the suspect, Sami Mohammed al-Mutairi, had entered Saudi Arabia shortly after Tuesday’s ambush that killed Michael Rene Pouliot, 46, a civilian contractor working at Camp Doha, the main US military base in Kuwait. Pouliot, who worked for a software company employed by the US Army, was killed when his vehicle was sprayed with automatic rifle fire on a road near the base. A colleague, David Caraway, was wounded and is being treated in a hospital in Kuwait. The Saudi Press Agency said the suspect was arrested yesterday. It quoted an interior ministry official as saying that initial investigations indicated that the man had fired the weapon used in the attack. Kuwaiti police said one or more attackers opened fire from trees and bushes before escaping. Cartridge cases believed to be from rounds fired from a Kalashnikov rifle were found at the scene. Newspapers said the suspect arrested in Saudi Arabia had also been detained several times in Kuwait in the past for suspected links with militant groups. They said he had tried to go to Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks but was stopped in Pakistan.
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‘No capital
punishment to extradited’
Paris, January 23 The assurance is likely to be incorporated in some form in the formal extradition treaty to be signed tomorrow by Deputy Prime Minister
L.K. Advani and French Justice Minister Dominique Perben. The incorporation of the no-death-sentence provision is understood to be in keeping with the sensitivities of the European nations where capital punishment has been abolished. India is still facing problems in getting Abu Salem extradited from Portugal and has given a written assurance that he will not be given death sentence after trial in India in a bid to hasten the process of his extradition. France is a major European country with which India will have an extradition arrangement after Britain and Spain. On the first day of his visit today, Mr Advani met French Defence Minister Michele
Alliott-Marie and discussed issues of bilateral concern and regional and international security in the conotext of ongoing war against global terrorism.
PTI |
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India, France to sign extradition treaty Paris, January 23 The signing of the treaty will be the highlight of the two-day visit of Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, who arrived here late last night to a red carpet welcome and a special guard of honour at the Orly airport. Mr Advani and French Justice Minister Dominique Perben will ink the treaty after their meeting. After Britain, France will be the second major European nation to have an extradition arrangement with India. It assumes significance in the context of problems India has in getting extradited wanted criminals and terrorists in other countries. Another highlight of Mr Advani’s first official visit to France will be his meeting with Prime Minister Jean Pierre Raffarin today when the entire gamut of ties between the two countries would come up for a review. Mr Advani will also have meetings with Defence Minister Michele Alliott-Marie and Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy. Over the past few years, Indo-French relations witnessed a diversification and intensification of high-level interactions.
PTI |
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Beer works just as well as wine Washington According to Kenneth Mukamal of Harvard School of Public Health, it made little difference among alcoholic beverages. A bottle of beer or a shot of brandy worked just as well as an expensive Merlot. Almost all studies made so far had suggested that red wine was more beneficial than other forms of alcohol although almost all alcoholic beverages were found to have some positive effect. But this probably is the first study which has confirmed that the type of alcohol does not matter, nevertheless red wine may have more anti-oxidants than other types of alcohol. The researchers also found that the time of consuming alcohol was not relevant — day or night and whether it was consumed with a meal was immaterial. A little bit of alcohol taken daily or several days a week helps reduce the risk of heart attacks. One drink or even less than a drink a day seemed to be just on effective as over three drinks. Recently, while doing research on heart disease in the beer consuming Milwauke area of Wisconsin, Barboriak — one of the first researchers to publish a study showing the cardio — protective effects of alcohol during the 1970s, found that those who drank up to four drinks a day had fewer blockages in their coronary arteries. A Director of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, said: “We do not advise the general public to begin drinking alcohol to prevent heart disease”. |
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