W O R L D

Anti-war cries get louder
New York, February 16
As US calls for a strike against Iraq grew shrill, cries against war grew shriller across the globe as more than six million persons took to the streets in 600 towns and cities today calling for restraint on the part of the USA.

Iraq: USA mounts pressure on Pak
Islamabad, February 16
The USA has stepped up pressure on Pakistan to support its possible second resolution in the UN Security Council to authorise military strikes against Iraq.

A snow plough clears the Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House in Washington on Sunday. Snow was falling at a rate of about an inch an hour on Sunday morning in the nation's capital. — Reuters

GLOBAL MONITOR

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi, chairperson of the World Trade Organisation talks, speaks at a news conference wrapping up the three-day meeting in Tokyo on Sunday. Kawaguchi said the latest informal talks, on everything from import duties to generic drugs, would help push forward trade liberalisation negotiations launched in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001.
— Reuters

Damper on Bush’s cry for war
THE UN Security Council debate on Friday on the latest reports of chief UN weapons inspectors, Mr Hans Blix and Mr Mohamed EIBaradel on Iraq has once again demonstrated that most of the council members are anxious to mute the war drums of President George W. Bush.

Iraq not to head disarmament forum: UN
United Nations, February 16
Iraq will not take up the rotating presidency of the world’s top disarmament forum next month, according to a UN spokesman.

In video: United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said the Security Council may need to pass a new resolution on Iraq as US forces in the Gulf region continue preparations for a possible war. (28k, 56k)

In video: Tony Blair warns the United Nations that its authority will be shattered if Iraq is not disarmed soon. (28k, 56k)

Laden vows more attacks
Dubai, February 16
A Saudi-owned newspaper published today excerpts of what it said was a new audio recording by Osama bin Laden in which he vowed to wage more attacks against American targets throughout the world.

• Ear clipped for talking in class!

Anti-war cries get louder

New York, February 16
As US calls for a strike against Iraq grew shrill, cries against war grew shriller across the globe as more than six million persons took to the streets in 600 towns and cities today calling for restraint on the part of the USA.

Massive anti-war rallies with people of all hues and ages holding posters ridiculing US President George Bush’s policy on Iraq were held in several US cities as also in Sydney, London, Berlin, Madrid, Buenos Aires, Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur, much to the delight of Baghdad.

In Sydney, more than two lakh persons, some bearing banners asking “how many lives per litre,” poured on to the roads today in protest against the Australian government’s policy supporting US stand on a strike against Iraq.

“We want our Prime Minister to listen to us,” read another banner expressing resentment against Mr John Howard’s support to the USA. Australia, a staunch ally of the USA, has despatched 2,000 troops to the Gulf.

An estimated 37,500 demonstrators converged near the United Nations in protest against the possible war against Baghdad, but were held back by police barricades.

A giant puppet depicting Mr Bush holding buckets of blood and oil towered over the cheering crowd as the main demonstration spilled over 20 blocks.

Besides anti-war protests in large cities like Los Angeles, California, Chicago and Illinois, huge demonstrations — not seen since the Vietnam war — were also held in smaller towns such as Alaska, Georgia and Macomb yesterday.

The largest protests yesterday were witnessed in Europe. estimates ranged from 3 lakh in France, and 5 lakh in Germany to one million in Italy and two million in Spain.

The police in London said the turnout was nearly 7,50,000. The protests were mainly peaceful, but violence broke out in a rally in Athens, Greece, when dozens of hooded demonstrators threw stones and gasoline bombs at the police, media reports said.

South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu leading a rally outside the UN office said the USA should allow UN inspectors to complete their task of searching for weapons.

In Asia, the rallies were less loud. With banners reading “no blood for oil,” some 5,000 persons thronged a park in Tokyo.

In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian peace campaigners reportedly garnered more than a million signatures in a government-backed move against the war, while Muslims in Thailand announced plans to boycott US brands in the event of a war.

The rallies were comparatively tiny in Asian Muslim nations, where just about a few hundred people came out in support of peace in Karachi and Dhaka. Jakarta in Indonesia saw at least a 7,000-strong crowd shout out against the war.

Iraq’s state-owned media gave prominent coverage to the rallies, while government owned daily Al Jumhuriya said “these demonstrations expressed in their spirit, meaning and slogans the decisive Iraqi victory and defeat and isolation of the USA.” PTI

Iraq: USA mounts pressure on Pak

Islamabad, February 16
The USA has stepped up pressure on Pakistan to support its possible second resolution in the UN Security Council to authorise military strikes against Iraq.

While US President George W. Bush telephoned President Pervez Musharraf on Friday to solicit support, US Ambassador to Islamabad Nancy Powell called on Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri to garner Pakistan’s support for US moves in the Security Council on Iraq.

The meeting between Ms Nancy Powell and Mr Kasuri was seen as part of a concerted US effort to “convince” Pakistan to support Washington on Iraq, local daily Dawn said today.

The newspaper quoted officials as saying that Ms Nancy Powell’s visit had been prompted by Pakistan’s stated stand against any unilateral action against Iraq.

Before her meeting with Mr Kasuri, US Secretary of State Colin Powell also talked to him on the telephone and discussed the same issue.

The Ambassador’s call on the Foreign Minister on Friday and telephone calls by the US President and the Secretary of State to their Pakistani counterparts were seen as signs of mounting pressure by the Bush government on Pakistan, which is a member of the United Nations Security Council.

The newspaper said the Musharraf-Jamali government would not be able to defend itself on the domestic front if Pakistan ended up being the only Muslim country to support a US-led war on Iraq.

General Musharraf also spoke to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Abdullah regarding the Iraqi situation and “both agreed on the need to avoid war and explore all possible avenues for a peaceful settlement of the crisis”, the Pakistani newspaper said.

In the UN Security Council, however, Pakistan continues to call for giving more time to UN inspectors in Iraq.

In the debate following his speech, the Pakistani Ambassador to the United Nations, Munir Akram, called for giving more time to the weapons inspectors — an option Washington opposes. PTI

Damper on Bush’s cry for war
A. Balu

THE UN Security Council debate on Friday on the latest reports of chief UN weapons inspectors, Mr Hans Blix and Mr Mohamed EIBaradel on Iraq has once again demonstrated that most of the council members are anxious to mute the war drums of President George W. Bush.

The council witnessed a rare phenomenon that served to underline the growing feeling at the UN that war is not the only solution to tame President Saddam Hussein. Loud applause from the delegates’ and the visitors’ gallery greeted the strong advocacy by the Foreign Ministers of France and Russia — two of the five permanent members — for more inspections.

For the US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, it was an embarrassing moment. He stuck to his guns, dismissing the inspectors’ reports that were less tough than the previous ones as “all process, not substance” and charging Iraq with “playing tricks”. He discarded his prepared text and spoke extempore. “We cannot wait for one of these terrible weapons to run up in our cities,” Mr. Powell said. Among the permanent members, only Britain voiced total support to the US stand. Spain, a non-permanent member, was in this category.

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin was emphatic in declaring that “no one can assert today that the path of war will be shorter than that of the inspections.” In his view, the council should wait until after the next report on March 14 before considering force as an option.

While France is of the view that there is no need for a second UN resolution, Britain is reported to be preparing a second draft to be placed before the council soon. The 15-member UN body is meeting again on Tuesday when non-members of the council will air their views on the inspection reports.

Notwithstanding the setback for its war cry at the Security Council on Friday, the Bush administration is unlikely to give up its swan song that President Saddam Hussein “is a danger” and that he should be disarmed, one way or another.

Meanwhile, the UN continues to receive petitions from leading international non-government organisations opposing a pre-emptive war against Iraq. The International Association of Lawyers against Nuclear Arms, has sent an appeal signed by 327 lawyers from 37 countries to the UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan. The President of the Association, Mr Christopher Weeramantry, a former judge of the International Court of Justice, said a pre-emptive strike against Iraq “is illegal and unnecessary, and should not be authorised by the Security Council.”

In its appeal, the International Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War has expressed concern that a war on Iraq could escalate into a wider regional conflict and could cause heavy military and civilian casualties.

Iraq not to head disarmament forum: UN

United Nations, February 16
Iraq will not take up the rotating presidency of the world’s top disarmament forum next month, according to a UN spokesman.

A statement, issued by the UN spokesman’s office said the permanent mission of Iraq to the United Nations had informed Secretary-General Kofi Annan on February 14 “that the Iraqi Government had sent a letter to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, saying that they would not be assuming the rotating presidency of the conference.’’

The presidency of the conference rotates in an alphabetical order. India is the incumbent president, followed by Indonesia. UNI

Laden vows more attacks

Dubai, February 16
A Saudi-owned newspaper published today excerpts of what it said was a new audio recording by Osama bin Laden in which he vowed to wage more attacks against American targets throughout the world.

In the recording, which was obtained by the London-based Al Hayat newspaper, the Saudi-born militant urged Muslims to set aside their fear of the USA and fight it, saying that Washington was planning to invade more Arab states after Iraq.

Al Hayat said it obtained the recording off an Islamist website affiliated with Laden’s Al-Qaida network. The paper did not identify the site and access to Islamist websites that have in the past published Al-Qaida statements frequently blocked by Internet hackers. Reuters

Singers return to prostitution

Peshawar, February 16
For many singers and dancers in Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), an Islamist-led crackdown on musical performance has meant a humiliating return to prostitution.

“The ban has forced me to become a prostitute again after 12 years,” lamented Mahjabeen, 30, an accomplished singer of Pashtu-language ‘ghazals’ in the NWFP capital Peshawar, 40 km from the Afghan border.

“It has frightened my audience away. They are too scared to organise musical evenings. My sole source of income was singing, so now I have no option but to revert to prostitution to support my family.”

Since the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) alliance of pro -Taliban Islamic parties swept NWFP in October polls and won control of the provincial parliament, the police has been waging an anti-obscenity drive in accordance with the recommendations of the MMA’s Sharia (Islamic law) Council.

But because no formal bans have been issued by the MMA, the police has taken matters into its own hands. Since December policemen have arrested video store owners, locked up singers caught performing in public, arrested musicians for “loitering” and ordered others to conceal their instruments.

They have torched posters of film stars, torn cassette out of public buses and forced drivers to halt their vehicles for the five daily prayers.

Hotels are forbidden to hold concerts, soirees and fashion shows.

While some singers have uprooted and headed to more literal cities like Lahore, 20 km from the eastern border with India, the market for Mahjabeen’s Pashtun ghazals only exists here. AFP

Ear clipped for talking in class!

Hong Kong, February 16
A Hong Kong teacher has been arrested and charged with assault after clipping a 10-year-old student’s ear for talking in class, a report said today. The boy needed four stitches in his ear after the teacher, Chan Kwok-kong, 56, injured his ear, Sunday Morning Post reported. DPA

GLOBAL MONITOR

CALL TO BOYCOTT POLANSKI’S FILM
LONDON: British campaigners against child abuse have called for a boycott of Roman Polanski’s Oscar-nominated film “The Pianist,” because of his child sex conviction in Los Angeles 25 years ago. Polanski, 69, who survived Nazi rule in Poland, fled the USA for Paris to escape sentence and has been warned that if he returns for the Oscars, he will be arrested. DPA

OPRAH TO DONATE $5 M TO COLLEGE
ATLANTA: Oprah Winfrey will donate $ 5 million to Morehouse College. The talk show host’s pledge came as Morehouse launched its largest-ever fund-raising campaign, hoping to receive at least $ 105 million by 2006. Winfrey, who had previously donated $ 1 million to the historically black college, is its top donor. AP

THOUSANDS JOIN AEROBICS PROGRAMME
MANILA: Tens of thousands of Filipinos trooped to a park here on Sunday for a mass aerobics programme in a bid to set a world record and promote healthy living. Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit and the President’s daughter, Evangeline “Luli” Arroyo, led movie and television actresses, government employees and civilians in the exercise, which officials claimed could be the largest such gathering in the world. AFP

ROBBIE WILLIAMS WINS BEST POP STAR PRIZE
BERLIN: British star Robbie Williams was awarded the prize for best international pop artiste at Germany’s Echo music awards here on Saturday. More than 5,000 music industry staff and pop fans attended the three-hour ceremony, held since 1992 by German Phono Akademie, to see prizes awarded in 28 categories. DPA