 |
Thursday,
June 26, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
|
Iraqis kill six British troops
Accords win-win situation for India,
Kargil sabotaged peace move: Sharif |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Amnesty tells HK to drop
anti-subversion law Italy releases 15 Pakistanis Bahraini held for terror link US novelist Leon Uris dead
|
|||||||||||||||
|
Iraqis kill six British troops Majar al-Kabir (Iraq), June 25 Abbas Faddhel, an Iraqi policeman in the town, said the British troops shot and killed four civilian demonstrators yesterday. Armed civilians then killed two of the British soldiers at the scene of the demonstration — in front of the mayor’s office — and then chased four. Two Iraqis died in the firefight with British forces, but Faddhel, the policeman, could not confirm that account. Faddhel said that there were about two dozen Iraqi policemen at the station who fled through a window during the gunbattle. Faddhel said they asked the British military police to flee with them but the British insisted on staying. LONDON: Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon said the six bodies were recovered at about 1100 GMT (1643 IST) yesterday in Majar al-Kabir, near the largely Shiite town of Amarah, which is about 130 km north of Basra, Iraq’s second largest city. Hoon told the House of Commons that the dead had been engaged in training the local Iraqi police. “Initial information suggests that they may have been involved in an incident in the police station” in Majar al-Kabir, he said. Earlier in Iraq, British army Capt. Dennis Abbott said the six died in an attack. Hoon also said an investigation was under way into whether the deaths were connected to yesterday’s attack against British paratroopers in Majar al-Kabir. He said members of the 1 Parachute Regiment came under fire at around 0630 GMT (1200 IST) while conducting a routine patrol. Their two vehicles were attacked with rocket-propelled grenades, heavy machine guns and rifle fire from “a large number of Iraqi gunmen.”
— AP |
|
Iraqi information minister held London, June 25 The Daily Mirror said al-Sahaf — nicknamed “Comical Ali” for his robust denials that Baghdad was falling to US troops — was snared in his car at a US military roadblock on Monday. In a dispatch from Baghdad, it said al-Sahaf’s captors allowed him to go back to a house where he had apparently been holed up with his wife and three children “to collect a toothbrush, razor and book.” “He has some serious talking to do... this time,” the tabloid, which had strongly opposed the US-led war to oust Saddam, quoted a “senior coalition source” as saying.
— AFP |
|
Accords win-win situation for India, China: Sinha
Beijing, June 25 “We have signed a border agreement in which Nathu La has been recognised as a border pass between China and India through which trade will be facilitated,” he said in an interview to BBC’s Asia Today. Asked if this meant a tacit admission by China over India’s claims on Sikkim, Mr Sinha said, “you can read the language for yourself. I do not know why there should be any doubt about anything”. Mr Sinha said two border passes in Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal had been recognised by China for border trade. To a question if there was any confusion over the Indian position on Tibet, the minister said, “if you look at the language which India has consistently used over the last 50 years, you will find that we have consistently taken a position”. Mr Sinha said, “I will say there is no change in India’s position and it continues to be consistent with the past positions we have taken”. On whether there was any change vis-a-vis India’s stand regarding Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama, Mr Sinha said, “I do not think there is any change there”. The decision to upgrade talks on the border issue with the appointment of special political representatives was described by the minister as a “very big development”. “This was an outstanding visit. The Chinese side said the first visit by Prime Minister Vajpayee as Foreign Minister in 1979 had succeeded in breaking the ice. This time, they said it has been the beginning of a new era”. On whether more high-level visits between India and China were planned, the minister said many more visits would take place before the year was out.
— PTI |
|
Kargil sabotaged peace move: Sharif Islamabad, June 25 In his first interview on record ever since he was exiled to Jeddah in 2000, Mr Sharif said he, along with Mr Vajpayee had decided to resolve the Kashmir issue peacefully through the Lahore peace process. “I can only say here that Mr Vajpayee and I had almost decided on a deadline for a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute,” he told Pakistan’s Daily Times from his exile. “Mr Vajpayee’s visit to Lahore was a link in the chain. Had it not been for Kargil, whereby all our plans were sabotaged, the issue of Kashmir would have reached a historic resolution long ago,” he said. Asked what was the real story behind Kargil, which lead to the military coup, Mr Sharif said Kargil was “a skeleton in General Musharraf’s closet,” while he took the public blame to save the army. “All events in the aftermath of the Kargil episode, especially October 12, 1999, are inextricably linked. The true version of the misadventure of Kargil shall not remain a secret... the facts shall be brought before the public and all those responsible shall have to account for their deeds,” he said. “For the time being I can only say that I took everything on my shoulders to save our army from a major embarrassment,” he said. Ruling out any compromise with General Musharraf, he said he would not return to Pakistan by working out an “arrangement” with the General. Mr Sharif said there appeared to be no meeting point between the Opposition and General Musharraf. “But who is responsible? How can one man play with the destiny of 140 million people? There is only one recourse to it now. General Musharraf has to drop his Legal Framework Order completely, give up his uniform and step down,” Mr Sharif said. Mr Sharif also ruled out a “grand national reconciliation,” stating that there could be no parleys with traitors. He said he did not believe that the armed forces as a whole were unwilling to transfer power to civilians, but it was the top military leadership which had acquired a “lust for power and contempt for the constitution.” Mr Sharif lamented that there was no respect for law in Pakistan today and said he was worried about the common man and his future under such an unlawful environment.
— PTI |
|
Columbia disaster cause found Washington, June 25 “It is a pretty compelling story that in fact the foam is the most probable cause of the shuttle accident,” Roger Tetrault, member of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board said after examining closely several pieces of the shuttle wreckage. Tetrault believes that the fatal breach in the shuttle’s left wing, which was struck by insulation foam just 82 seconds after lift-off on January 16 this year resulted in the spacecraft’s disintegration on February 1. The damaged portion was located at or near panel no. 8 on the left wing, he said. The engineering analysis, as well as the shuttle wreckage pinpoints to that location, he said. The most compelling evidence for the foam theory was the launch video, which clearly shows the insulation foam breaking away from the external fuel tank and hitting the panels on the left wing. The board is expected to complete the report by July end and the investigators are struggling with how best to word it. “The board is trying to craft words which will force NASA to do something,” Board chairman Harold Gehman said. The board is slated to carry out a final foam-impact simulation test early next month to re-create the conditions of an impact to panel eight of Columbia’s left wing. NASA yesterday released almost 10 hours of video and 92 photographs taken during the final flight of space shuttle Columbia. The videotapes were among the nearly 40,000 kgs of debris recovered after a three-month search carried over parts of Florida and other states. The newly released tapes shows Kalpana
Chawla, Laurel Clark, Rick Husband and first time Israeli astronaut
Ilan Ramon waking up to the song “Love of my Life” on the 12th day
of the mission. — PTI |
|
|
Amnesty tells HK to drop anti-subversion law Hong Kong, June 25 Amnesty’s Hong Kong branch urged the government in a statement late yesterday to step back from “its headlong rush” towards the enactment of the legislation which it said would limit the fundamental rights and freedom of Hong Kong citizens. It expressed fears that the laws would allow mainland China’s principles of state security to override Hong Kong’s independent legal system. “There is still a window of opportunity for the Hong Kong Government to pull back from the brink of this potential human rights disaster and to listen to the hundreds of voices raised in opposition to the serious problems raised by the proposed legislation,” it said. “There is no defeat in allowing for more debate and further refinement in the proposed legislation,” Amnesty International said. “For a government to rush through a hastily worded and poorly drafted Bill is both irresponsible and dangerous,” it said. The agreement under which Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997 obliges the territory to pass the legislation banning treason, sedition, subversion and the theft of state secrets. The law is due to be enacted on July 9.
— AFP |
|
Italy releases 15 Pakistanis Rome, June 25 Italian officials arrested the men after the coastguard intercepted their vessel, the Sara, off the coast of Sicily, following a tip-off from Italian intelligence services. They were charged with conspiracy to carry out terrorist and subversive acts and jailed in Caltanissetta, in the southern island of Sicily. After a 10-month-long investigation, a Caltanissetta magistrate ordered their release after it was proved that the men were clandestine immigrants with no links to Al Qaida or other extremists.
— AFP |
|
Bahraini held for terror link Manama, June 25 The official Bahrain News Agency late last night quoted an unnamed Bahraini security source as saying Saudi authorities were questioning Abdulraheem Ali al-Murbati ‘’under the current security investigations to combat terrorism’’. It was not clear if the man had been charged or if he had any direct links to the May 12 suicide bombings which killed 35 people and which have been blamed on the Al-Qaida network. Bahraini newspapers earlier reported that Murbati had a brother being held at the US base in Cuba among Al-Qaida and Taliban suspects captured in the US-led war in Afghanistan. They said Saudi security forces detained Murbati while he was accompanying his family on a trip to the Gulf Arab state to get his son medical treatment.
— Reuters |
|
US novelist Leon Uris dead New York, June 25 She said by telephone from Aspen, Colorado, that the novelist died on Saturday at his home on New York’s Shelter Island after suffering from various ailments. A new book, of the novelist, “O’Hara’s Choice’’ — a historical fiction about the U.S. Marine Corps — was scheduled to be published by Harper Collins in October.
— Reuters |
|
Kite flying banned in Lahore Islamabad, June 25 Mayor Amir Mehmood ordered the three-month ban because children chasing kites cause and die in traffic accidents. Also, the popular summer sport plays havoc with power lines, the city newspaper Daily Times reported. Sharp metal string used by some kite flyers causes havoc when it falls on power lines, according to the mayor.
— DPA Prostitution Reform Bill Wellington, June 25 The Bill had drawn the strongest opposition from moral conservatives since homosexual law reform 17 years ago. Labour MP Tim Barnett’s Bill will become law after nearly three years of scrutiny, 415 hours of debate by parliament and its committees, and 222 public submissions. — AFP |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 123 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Videos
