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Tuesday,
January 28, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Iraq not fully forthcoming on missile programmes: Blix
UK fleet for buildup against Iraq ‘Pak will be wiped out if it nukes India’ Indians celebrate Republic Day Maoist commander held for killing IGP, wife
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Iraq not fully forthcoming on missile programmes: Blix United Nations, January 27 While Baghdad is cooperating on access it needs to do more on substance, he said in his first major report rounding off his 60 days of weapons inspection for a crucial assessment about Baghdad facing the threat of a US-led offensive. Mr Blix said “Iraq appears not to have come to a genuine acceptance, not even today, of the disarmament that has been demanded of it.” The inspectors have serious doubts about some of the statements made by Iraq that it has destroyed chemical and biological weapons, he said. Mr Blix, heading the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, said the discovery of more than 3,000 pages from the house of a scientist, much of it relating to the laser enrichment of uranium, gives rise to doubts that it might not be an isolated event. The placement of documents might be “deliberate” to make discovery difficult to shield them by placing them in private homes. “Any further sign of concealment of documents would be serious,” Mr Blix warned. Contrary to expectations, he did not directly ask the council for more time to complete the inspections which began on November 27. Before Mr Blix and Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohammed El Baradei briefed the council on the progress made so far, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said he expected the council to give the inspectors more time. “Iraq has on the whole cooperated rather well,” providing access to all sites the inspectors wanted to visit, including palaces of President Saddam Hussein, Mr Blix said. He said the declaration made by Iraq to the council on December 8 of its weapons of mass destruction contained nothing new, adding that he did not presume that Iraq had such weapons but neither did he presume the opposite. Recalling that Iraq had declared that it produced 8,500 litres of anthrax and destroyed the stock in 1991, Mr Blix said there was no convincing evidence of destruction. “There are strong indications” that it produced more than it declared, he said. The inspectors will present another report on February 14 after which the issue of military action against Iraq will take the centrestage. Reacting to the inspectors’ report, US Ambassador John Negroponte said it clearly showed that Iraq was not fully cooperating with the inspectors.
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UK fleet for buildup against Iraq Nicosia, January 27 The rest of the British naval task force, comprising 15 vessels, is due to anchor off the British Royal Air Force base of Akrotiri, later today. The fleet is led by the aircraft carrier Ark Royal and the helicopter carrier Ocean, the destroyers York, Edinburgh and Liverpool, and frigates Northumberland and Cornwall. On the flagship Ark Royal there are 300 elite marines among 1,200 servicemen, while the Ocean, Britain’s largest warship, has around 800 personnel. Officially, the navy vessels are on exercises in the eastern Mediterranean but British armed forces are massing in the region in case of a possible war with Iraq.
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‘Pak will be wiped out if it nukes India’ London, January 27 “We have been saying all through, that the person who heads Pakistan today, who is also the whole and sole incharge of that country, has been talking about using dangerous weapons including the nukes,” India’s Defence Minister George Fernandes said last night. “Well, I would reply by saying that if Pakistan has decided that it wants to get itself destroyed and erased from the world map, then it may take this step of madness, but if wants to survive then it would not do so,” he said. Participating in a BBC World’s phone-in programme in Hindi — Aap ki bat, BBC ke Sath — Fernandes said: “There has been this talk Pakistani nuclear weapons falling in the hands of dangerous elements. But we believe that whatever be the policy of Pakistani leadership towards India, howsoever irresponsible they may be, it is difficult to accept that they will put such weapons in the hands of individuals or organisations, who might eventually use them.” Answering a question on infiltration of terrorists from across the border in Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Fernandes said after this Taliban and Al Qaida were vanquished in Afghanistan, “armed units of Taliban that fled from Kabul, entered Pakistan.” “Now they were provided not only shelter by Pakistan, but all possible help, including training, which is in full knowledge of the world, the USA included. But how far USA would be ready to impress upon Pakistan to give up such dangerous policies, is difficult to say as of today,” he said.
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Indians celebrate Republic Day Islamabad, January 27 In view of the prevailing diplomatic tensions, the celebrations were a low-key affair in Pakistan with the Indian High Commission not hosting the public reception for the second year in succession. The small Indian diplomatic community was led by charge d’affaires Sudhir Vyas, who unfurled the Tricolour and read President A.P.J Abdul Kalam’s address at the High Commission here. The Janata Party President, Dr Subramanian Swamy, and his party colleague and former Karnataka Education Minister Subbiah Shetty, who are in Pakistan, also attended the flag hoisting ceremony. In Russia, hundreds of Moscow-based Indian families gathered at the Indian embassy for the flag hoisting ceremony to mark the occasion. After reading President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s address to the nation, the Indian ambassador to Russia, Mr K. Raghunath, greeted his compatriots and urged them to preserve the unity in diversity. The day was also celebrated with great enthusiasm by Indians in other former Soviet Republic capitals, including Kiev, Tashkent and Dushanbe. In Israeli capital Tel Aviv, the Indian Ambassador Mr R.S. Jessal hoisted the Tricolour and read the President’s address at a function attended by Indian Jewish community. The day was also celebrated in Gaza, Egyptian capital Cairo and Jordanian capital Amman. The Republic Day celebrations in Gulf were marked by cultural programmes, hoisting of Tricolour at missions and singing of patriotic songs by students. Indian-Australians celebrated the Republic Day with the unfurling of Tricolour at Indian mission by the High Commissioner Mr R.S. Rathore, in Canberra. Coinciding with Australia Day, January 26 is a public holiday in the country. Indians in Canada braved icy conditions to celebrate Republic Day by hoisting the Tricolour, taking out processions and holding cultural extravaganza showcasing India’s unity in diversity.
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Maoist commander held for killing IGP, wife Kathmandu, January 27 Krishna Hari Sainju, Maoist commander of Bhaktapur district, was arrested from a house near the incident site at Bagdole in Lalitpur district on the outskirts of Kathmandu, the police said. An armed gang of five persons had shot dead IGP Krishna Mohan Shrestha, his wife, Nudup, and bodyguard ASI Surya Regmi. Sainju, who was injured after the killing, was hiding in a nearby house. After the arrest he was admitted to Birendra Police Hospital in Maharajgunj. The Maoists have not taken the responsibility on the killing of Shrestha, however, officials said, it was their act. The government, major political parties, human rights activists and people of various walks of life have condemned the killing of Shrestha. Security was beefed up in Kathmandu last night keeping in view of the incident. The Indian Embassy had cancelled a cultural programme to be organised during the 54th Republic Day celebration in Kathmandu due to the killing.
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