The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Saturday, April 5, 2003, Chandigarh, India

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

W O R L D

British couple under observation for SARS
London, April 4
An elderly couple was in a Scottish hospital today, being tested for the SARS illness which had caused concern in Hong Kong and parts of China. The couple fell ill after a recent trip to Hong Kong and were admitted to the Ninewells Hospital in Dundee on Thursday. Their 25-year-old daughter had also been admitted to hospital, but she was not being regarded as a suspected case.

Chinese women wear masks at Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Chinese women wear masks at Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province in southern China on Friday.
— Reuters photo

8 Taliban die in US airstrikes
Bagram, April 4
Afghan militia soldiers and blistering airstrikes by US-led coalition planes have killed eight suspected Taliban fighters in the southern mountains, an American army spokesman said today. Another 15 suspects were taken into custody.

WORLD BRIEFS

Singer Lisa Marie Presley is shown in an undated publicity photograph during an exclusive interview with Diane Sawyer about her controversial relationship with Michael Jackson, her recent divorce from actor Nicolas Cage and memories of Graceland and her father, the legendary Elvis Presley, and her first foray into music, a CD of very personal new songs she has written, entitled "To Whom it May Concern." The interview will be telecast on the ABC program "Primetime Thursday." — Reuters

Bush gets $ 80 b for war
Washington, April 4
US Congress voted overwhelmingly to give President George W. Bush about $80 billion for initial costs of the invasion of Iraq and other anti-terrorism efforts.

Mock Statue of Liberty burnt
Solo (Indonesia), April 4
Around 10,000 persons burnt a mock Statue of Liberty and chanted “Bush is a terrorist” during an anti-war rally today in the world’s largest Muslim nation. Crowds marched through the streets of the Javanese town of Solo, holding hundreds of posters, calling for a peaceful end to the Iraq war, and labelling US President George W. Bush a terrorist and baby killer.

Arnett to report for pvt channel
Brussels, April 4
Sacked reporter Peter Arnett is to report from Iraq for a private Belgian television channel, a Belgian newspaper reported today. Arnett, 68, a New Zealand-born US citizen, was fired last Monday by US network NBC after giving an interview to Iraqi television in which he praised the Iraqi Information Ministry and described the US war plan as “failed”.

EARLIER STORIES

	4 Palestinians killed in Gaza April 4, 2003
	Sars toll 75, China invites probe team April 3, 2003
	Allies jump the gun in propaganda war April 2, 2003
	Worldwide protests against war April 1, 2003
	Pak opposed to war on Iraq: Jamali March 31, 2003
	‘Shock and awe’ in store for USA March 30, 2003
	200 arrested for anti-war protest March 29, 2003
	Food aid a drop in ocean March 28, 2003
	Allies may suffer 3,000 casualties March 27, 2003
	USA, Iraq ‘violating’ Geneva Convention March 26, 2003

Oklahoma killer executed
Oklahoma City, April 4
A man who was 17 at the time he killed a young couple was executed here at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. Scott Allen Hain, now 32, was executed yesterday by lethal injection at the penitentiary in McAlester, and was declared dead at 8:39 pm. Only hours before his execution, the US Supreme Court overturned a stay granted on Wednesday by the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

Chief hospital corpsman David Jones of the 15 Marine Expeditionary Unit holds two-hour-old newborn Rogenia Katham Chief hospital corpsman David Jones of the 15 Marine Expeditionary Unit holds two-hour-old newborn Rogenia Katham, daughter of Jamila Khatam (20), at Nasiriyah, Iraq, on Thursday. F Company Marines had been approached by Jamila’s family for taking her to hospital. — AP/PTI

British couple under observation for SARS

London, April 4
An elderly couple was in a Scottish hospital today, being tested for the SARS illness which had caused concern in Hong Kong and parts of China.

The couple fell ill after a recent trip to Hong Kong and were admitted to the Ninewells Hospital in Dundee on Thursday.

Their 25-year-old daughter had also been admitted to hospital, but she was not being regarded as a suspected case.

Three confirmed cases in Great Britain to date had all recovered.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s dominant carrier Cathay Pacific Airways Limited said on Friday that it had cut more flights in Asia as demand fell due to the spread of a deadly pneumonia-like virus and the war in Iraq.

Several airlines had cut back on services following an outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which had killed around 80 persons and infected over 2,365 worldwide, including 734 in Hong Kong.

Cathay said the latest cuts, mainly to destinations in Asia, brought the total weekly passenger capacity reduction to 14 per cent. The carrier had previously announced a four per cent reduction in passenger capacity. Cathay said about 108 flights had been withdrawn from the carrier’s weekly schedule.

Cathay said the cuts would affect several cities in Asia and its London, Los Angeles and Melbourne routes.

Washington: The US State Department has offered non-essential staff and all dependents at its embassy in Beijing and five consulates free flights out on a voluntary basis.

The State Department said it took the step as a precaution because of SARS which has caused 40 deaths in China.

BEIJING: The booming south Chinese city of Shenzhen has also been affected by SARS with one death and 33 cases reported, the state media said on Friday.

Thirtythree SARS cases had been detected in the city of Shenzhen, in the worst-affected Guangdong province, and 20 had been cured and left hospital by Wednesday night, Xinhua news agency reported.

SINGAPORE: The death toll from SARS rose to five in Singapore while about 100 persons have shown symptoms of the contagious disease, it was reported here today.

TORONTO: Health officials tried to calm the public after a seventh person in Canada died from SARS.

But a new SARS case among an elderly person — the group most severely hit by the deadly illness here — forced the closure of a retirement home and triggered a call for its 121 aged residents, 70 staff and numerous visitors go into voluntary quarantine.

CANBERRA: Three Canadian children were isolated in an Australian hospital today, with one diagnosed as probably having the deadly flu-like SARS virus.

So far Australia has only reported one SARS case — a British tourist who has since recovered and returned home — but news of the latest possible cases prompted the government to beef up airport surveillance. Agencies

8 Taliban die in US airstrikes

Bagram, April 4
Afghan militia soldiers and blistering airstrikes by US-led coalition planes have killed eight suspected Taliban fighters in the southern mountains, an American army spokesman said today. Another 15 suspects were taken into custody.

The deaths and captures came during a 14-hour bombing campaign on Wednesday and yesterday in the Tor Ghar mountains near the town of Spinboldak, where Afghan soldiers and US special forces discovered a group of about 40 suspected Taliban at a transit camp.

One Afghan militia member was killed and three others were injured in the firefight, Col Roger King said. There were no US casualties.

“Eight enemies were killed in action, and Afghan forces have taken 15 persons under control,” he told reporters at the Bagram air base, headquarters for a multinational coalition fighting terror in Afghanistan. “As far as we know, they were Taliban.”

In the cleanup yesterday, the soldiers also found and confiscated light machine guns, bomb-making materials, improvised explosive devices, two trucks, two motor cycles and ammunition, Colonel King said.

He said more than 35,000 pounds of ordnance were dropped or fired from five types of aircraft — Harrier jets, B-1 bombers, A-10 Thunderbolts and helicopter gunships — on the rebel positions.

The US special forces soldiers and some 250 Afghan soldiers drove the Taliban suspects into the mountains about 40 km north of Spinboldak, a gateway to southeastern Afghanistan. AP

Bush gets $ 80 b for war

Washington, April 4
US Congress voted overwhelmingly to give President George W. Bush about $80 billion for initial costs of the invasion of Iraq and other anti-terrorism efforts. The approval came after a debate in which conservatives failed in their bid to punish Turkey and other nations for hindering the U.S. war effort.

Senators approved their measure 93-0 and the House adopted a similar bill by 414-12, underscoring lawmakers’ resolve to back US forces in the field. The votes put the two chambers on track to send Mr Bush a final package by his deadline of April 11, which would be uncommonly swift for a Congress that received his request for $ 74.7 billion only a week ago.

Though lawmakers reined in Mr Bush’s request to control most of the funds and added aid for airlines and other items, the vote gave him a welcome victory on Capitol Hill, a week after the Senate voted to cut in half his plan for new tax cuts.

“It’s imperative that we complete this bill ... and got the bill on the President’s desk,’’ said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. AP

Mock Statue of Liberty burnt

Solo (Indonesia), April 4
Around 10,000 persons burnt a mock Statue of Liberty and chanted “Bush is a terrorist” during an anti-war rally today in the world’s largest Muslim nation.

Crowds marched through the streets of the Javanese town of Solo, holding hundreds of posters, calling for a peaceful end to the Iraq war, and labelling US President George W. Bush a terrorist and baby killer.

Others strode through the streets holding a plastic foam replica of the Statue of Liberty, but with a machine gun in its hands. As the protest ended in front of a university campus, the crowd burnt the two-metre statue and joined in a chorus of “Bush is a terrorist”.

Protesters included students from the Islamic boarding school of Abu Bakar Bashir, a radical Muslim cleric being held in jail on treason charges. He is the alleged leader of the terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, which is blamed for the October 12 Bali bombings that killed 202 persons.

Meanwhile, in Jakarta, more than a dozen students as young as five years joined in a festive anti-war protest in front of the US embassy. Wearing puppet masks and straw hats, the youngsters quietly joined their teachers in chants of “We want peace.” AP

Oklahoma killer executed

Oklahoma City, April 4
A man who was 17 at the time he killed a young couple was executed here at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.

Scott Allen Hain, now 32, was executed yesterday by lethal injection at the penitentiary in McAlester, and was declared dead at 8:39 pm.

Only hours before his execution, the US Supreme Court overturned a stay granted on Wednesday by the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

Hain was convicted for murder after kidnapping a young couple, stuffing them into a car trunk and setting the vehicle on fire with a 21-year-old accomplice in October 1987.

The lower court stayed Hain’s execution based on his attorney’s appeal that Hain was only 17 at the time of the crime.

Hain’s attorney also claimed he was not able to present a credible case for clemency because of lack of funds, including presenting expert witnessess.

Prison spokesman Mike Sherrill said Hain refused his last meal, telling prison officials he believed his stay would be upheld.

Born in 1970, of drug and alcohol-addicted parents, Hain dropped out of school at an early age and started using drugs at nine. AFP

WORLD BRIEFS

South Korean models pose in outfits of a local clothing maker during an "anti-war" fashion show on a street in central Seoul on Friday. South Korea's President thanked Parliament on Thursday for a greeting to send troops to Iraq, but the South's most militant union vowed to step up protests and two groups sought to have the deployment declared unconstitutional. — Reuters

ARAB-AMERICAN HELD BY FBI
SAN FRANCISCO: An Arab-American computer programmer in Oregon has been held in solitary confinement for two weeks without being told the charges against him after the FBI’s terrorism task force detained him as a material witness, friends said. An FBI spokeswoman said “court rules” prevented the agency from discussing the arrest of Hillsboro, software expert Maher “Mike” Hawash, including saying whether a gag order had been issued in the case or what the specific court rules involved were. Reuters

USA BARS FRANCE, RUSSIA FROM IRAQ BIDS
WASHINGTON: The House of Representatives has passed a supplementary budget amendment excluding France, Germany, Russia and Syria from taking part in US-funded reconstruction bids in Iraq, because they opposed the US-led war in Iraq. Proposed by Minnesota congressman Mark Kennedy, a Republican unrelated to the famous Kennedy clan, and passed by a show of hands on Thursday, the measure would bar access by the four countries to information on reconstruction bids in Iraq. AFP

UN TEAM IN IRAQ FOR ASSESSMENT
KUWAIT: UN expatriate staff entered Iraq on Friday to assess the conditions in their first working visit since UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan withdrew them shortly before war began, UN officials said. A joint team from the World Food Programme, the UN Children’s Fund, the UN Office for the Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq and UN security experts crossed from Kuwait to the southern port of Umm Qasr, they said. Reuters

SERRE WINS FIRST ABEL PRIZE
OSLO: French mathematician Jean-Pierre Serre was named the first winner of the Abel Prize for his “outstanding work in the field of mathematics”. The 76-year-old Serre, professor emeritus at the College de France in Paris, was awarded the six-million kroner ($ 8,50,000) prize for “giving many areas of mathematics a modern form, including topology, algebraic geometry and the theory of numbers”, according to the prize fund on Thursday. Serre would be invited to Oslo to receive the prize on June 3. DPA