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Tuesday,
June 17, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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EU seeks
assurance from Iran on Legal
showdown awaits Fiji govt New US
push to root out Saddam loyalists
Pak Sikhs
join Jatha at Bhog PAKISTAN DIARY |
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Miss
World contest to be held in China
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EU seeks assurance from Iran on n-programme
Luxembourg, June 16 EU Foreign Ministers met to review negotiations for a trade and cooperation agreement with Iran as western pressure mounted on Tehran over what the USA says is a secret drive to build nuclear weapons. Speaking on arrival at the meeting, ministers from Sweden, Denmark and Finland said the Islamic republic must cooperate more fully with the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog and allow short-notice intrusive inspections of its atomic programme. “We want firm assurances that there is no nuclear weapons programme,” Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja told reporters. “The onus is on them to come clean,” Tuomioja said. The governing board of the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was meeting in Vienna today to discuss a harsh report on Iran’s nuclear programme, which Tehran says is purely for civilian purposes. The confidential IAEA report, obtained by Reuters on June 6, accuses Iran of failing to comply with a safeguards agreement aimed at preventing it from developing illegal weapons. The EU ministers were set to send Iran a warning that it must “urgently and unconditionally” sign and ratify an additional protocol to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, otherwise there would be no progress in the trade deal. A draft statement, obtained by Reuters on Friday, stopped short of endorsing the US charge but said some aspects of Iran’s programme raised “serious concern”. Iran said today that it was considering accepting stricter UN inspections but had made no final decision.
Reuters |
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Legal showdown awaits Fiji govt
Suva, June 16 The court has to decide whether deposed Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry’s Fiji Labour Party (FLP) should be included in Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase’s Cabinet. In effect, the court is also ruling on whether Fiji can work as a multiracial society. Around 44 per cent of Fiji’s 800,000 people are Indians, descendants of canefield contract workers imported by the British. The rest of the population is a mix of Polynesians and Melanesians, the indigenous people of the lush and beautiful archipelago. Under the Constitution Chaudhry was entitled to 38 per cent of the seats in the Cabinet and won lower court rulings to that effect. But Qarase, whose personal dislike of Chaudhry is reciprocated, refuses to embrace the FLP and has appealed to the Supreme Court. In the intimate world of this Peninsula city, history crowds in. The court will sit in the same room that was the parliamentary debating chamber PM Sitiveni Rabuka and his army first stormed in 1987. It is the same room where Speight and two others were convicted of treason. A bronze bust of a traditional Fijian warrior stands guard at its entrance. Others, including Rabuka, appear to believe a snap general election may follow and there are worries that any effort to restore Chaudhry to power might spark the same forces who were behind the 2000 coup. Citizens Constitutional Forum director Akuila Yabaki says until Fiji learns to respect its Constitution and the rule of law, its economy and institutions will not develop and it will continue “drifting along the current nationalist stream to hell in a hand basket....”.
AFP |
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New US push to root out Saddam loyalists
Baghdad, June 16 Residents used to lying low during the huge search operations which have followed repeated deadly attacks on US troops, watched on warily as teams of army engineers poured out of the convoys trundling down their narrow streets to renovate schools, clear rubbish, and build soccer pitches. Meanwhile, US forces intensified their battle against Pro-Saddam Hussein loyalists and armed resistance in Iraq as thousands of Iraqi protestors demanded self-rule in the British-run southern city of Basra. The US military unleashed a new operation codenamed, “Desert Scorpion”, against forces loyal to the ousted former President in northern Iraq, a coalition spokesman said. The campaign left at least 113 persons dead, including at least one foreigner, according to a tally from Iraqi witnesses and US officials. American military officials said 31 fighters had been killed but reported no US deaths.
AFP |
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Pak Sikhs join Jatha at Bhog Lahore, June 16 Discounting all fears the three-day function ended this morning without the Sikh radicals’ presence. Certain people, mostly past observers, had feared that Sikh radicals may appear on the final day, but happily no untoward incident happened. The 150-member Sikh Jatha from India participated in all functions that marked the solemn occasion. The SGPC had sent priests and ragis who ensured that the Sikh rehat maryada was followed. Though Sikhs from India and all parts of Pakistan assembled in strength, Sindhis seemed to steal the show. With men, women and kids they swarmed all over, in the main Manji Sahib where bhog proceedings were in the final stage, in the Langar Hall where if men served the food, women washed utensils, with none raising a voice. While langar continued for about 20 hours daily, so was ‘chhabeel’ which continued day and night without any break. The ‘chhabeel’ arrangement was manned by Sindhi Sikhs who not only donned different types of turbans, but even their features were different. Most had fair complexion and were dressed in cream colour. They dressed elegantly unlike some of the Jatha members who tied loose turbans and walked around casually as if they were moving around some village pond. For all the three days, Gurdwara Dera Sahib remained tastefully decorated. Pak policemen and women in their black or blue uniform were present throughout the day and night. They dutifully checked any strange visitors. Muslims were forbidden to enter the shrine. Police personnel were present both in and outside the gurdwara and accompanied the Jatha wherever it moved. With the culmination of festivities at Dera Sahib here, the Sikh Jatha will travel to Panja Sahib in Hassan Abdal on its second leg of the journey. |
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PAKISTAN DIARY They are finally out of the ‘purdah’. Yes, women in Pakistan are no longer burqa-clad. having visited Anarkali Bazar, Nishat Road, Lahore Road, G.T. Road, Shama Road and Waris Road, Badshahi Bagh and Shalimar Gardens, one hardly encounters women in veil. The ones you see at random constitute even less than 1 per cent. *** Beggars are rare in Lahore. Over the past three days, I found just two of them, seeking alms. But as you wave them off, they disappear without protest. having covered more than 300 km in and around Lahore, I did not see them even at traffic light points.
*** The number of persons who smoke here is also negligible. At least that is how its seems, surprising is not it, because Islam imposes no injunction on those who smoke.
*** Outside Lahore, road signs are in English, for the benefit of outsiders. But inside the city all road signs are in Urdu. Lahore has smooth and wider roads. One heartening feature is that in the No Parking Zone, none tries to park the vehicle, showing full adherence to road rules.
*** Both India and Pakistan are similar in many ways. The old city of Lahore has 12 gates. if India has Lahori Gate and Kashmiri Gate in Delhi, Pakistan also has Lahori Gate and kashmiri Gate in Lahore. Then both Amritsar and Lahore have Lawrence Road. If Amritsar is ahead, Patiala can’t be behind. Lahore has Sheranwala Gate, a Sheranwala Gate also exists in patiala.
*** In the matter of density of cars Lahore is far behind Amritsar, Ludhiana and Chandigarh. it is only a few select who own cars in Pakistan. So, private taxis, autorickshaws, cycle-rickshaws and even cycles rule the roost on Lahore roads. |
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Miss World contest to be held in China Beijing, June 16 The 53rd Miss World competition would be held in the city of Sanya in the province from November 9 to December 6 this year as scheduled, the state media reported today. Contenders from 117 countries and regions would converge on Sanya for the pageant which would be televised live Worldwide, Xinhua news reported. The cultural exhibition centre, named the crown of beauty, is designed and built especially for this contest.
PTI |
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