 |
Wednesday,
August 20, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
|
USA to
give six cargo planes Pervez not
to fix date to quit as Army chief Pak
Embassy staffer held with fake Indian currency
New York
losses in billions from blackout Rights
groups grill Modi over Godhra 11-year
jail for charity founder |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
USA to give six cargo planes to Pakistan
Islamabad, August 19 The new planes, to be manufactured by US aircraft firm Lockheed Martin, would be handed over to Pakistan in two years, Deputy Chief of US Mission in Pakistan, William T Manoroe, told the media here yesterday. An agreement to this effect, which was signed by US Ambassador Nancy Powell and a senior Finance Ministry official of Pakistan, also provided for complete upgradation of cockpit avionics for the current Pakistan Air Force C-130 fleet, the US embassy here said in a statement today. The assistance was part of the $ 3-billion aid promised by Mr Bush to Mr Musharraf during their Camp David summit in June. Half of the money would be used for clearing Pakistan’s debt to the USA and the rest would be spent for assistance in the fields of defence and social development. “The purchase not only improves the defence capability of Pakistan, it also enhances its ability to conduct humanitarian relief missions throughout the region,” the statement said. The USA also signed an agreement yesterday to provide a five-year grant of $ 115.7 million(US) to Pakistan to improve its health services. The USA had recently rejected Pakistan’s request to provide it F-16 planes after which the Pakistan Air Force approached Belgium to buy two squadrons of used F-16 planes. Belgium officially confirmed yesterday that Pakistan had made a formal request to buy up to two squadrons of used F-16 fighter planes. Belgium Defence Minister Andre Flahaut expressed his optimism that there would be no problem in selling F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, local daily ‘The News’ reported. The sale, however, needed approval by the USA. Belgium had bought the F-16 planes from the USA and the contract stipulated that it could resell them only with the approval of the USA. “The dossier (on F-16 resale) has not yet been examined, therefore, we have not initiated consultation with the USA as yet,” the Belgian Defence Minister said. However, the sale of F-16s to Pakistan had been opposed by a Belgian political party, Flemish Greens, on the grounds that they could be used to carry nuclear warheads in a war against India, the newspaper said. “In the light of the tension between Pakistan and India, the sale of F-16s to Pakistan would be unacceptable,” the Flemish Greens party told the Belgian Government. The Belgian Government also had to consult other EU member states before seeking permission from the USA administration for the sale of F-16s to Pakistan. Defence experts in Brussels said Pakistan made a formal request to the Belgian Government to provide F-16 jets after informally consulting some important members of the US
administration. — PTI |
|
Pervez not to fix date to quit as Army chief
Islamabad, August 19 “If I give any date for becoming non-uniformed president, some people would start countdown. It would lead to destabilisation,” he reported to have told a meeting of the ruling pro-military Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) here yesterday. Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali and other pro-Musharraf leaders attended the meeting. In his address, General Musharraf also said the Legal Framework Order (LFO), which incorporated his controversial constitutional amendments and legalised his election as President through a referendum, would stay. He assured the ruling party MPs that he had no plans to dissolve Parliament and four provincial assemblies despite the opposition’s agitation. “The LFO is no more an issue, and the issue of uniform should be left to me for a final decision,” he was quoted as saying by the media here. General Musharraf said he would not give up powers to dissolve Parliament and constitute a military dominated National Security Council (NSC). During the past 10 months the lower house, national assembly only managed to approve this year’s budget. General Musharraf has so far not made any attempt to address the joint session of the senate and national assembly, fearing protests from the opposition.
— PTI |
|
Pak Embassy staffer held
with fake
Indian currency Kathmandu, August 19 A special police monitoring team seized 90 fake 500 -rupee notes from Mohmad Masud, a Pakistan Embassy clerk, yesterday evening at a restaurant here following a tip-off, Superintendent of Police Kuber Singh Rana said. Masud was handed over to the Kathmandu district police office, Rana said adding that a senior Pakistani diplomat later got him released showing diplomatic immunity. The police was conducting a probe into the seizure, Rana said.
— PTI |
|
Saddam deputy
Ramadan held Baghdad, August 19 “He was detained in Mosul as a result of cooperation between the political parties and residents,’’ Adel Murad of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) said here. In Washington, a Pentagon spokeswoman confirmed that Ramadan had been captured and handed over to US-led forces, who invaded Iraq in March and toppled Saddam. Ramadan was No. 20 and the 10 of diamonds in a deck of cards issued to US troops hunting the 55 most wanted members of Saddam’s administration.
— Reuters |
|
New York losses in billions from blackout
New York, August 19 About $ 800 million stemmed from lost business, and another $ 250 million came from spoilage of food and other goods in the extreme heat without refrigeration. On a per-hour rate, the blackout cost $ 36 million an hour in New York City. The losses hit the city especially hard because of the terror attacks on September 11, 2001, which sent the city into a financial crisis from which it still has not recovered. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has laid off 4,700 city employees and cut outlays by $ 3 billion since taking office shortly after the attacks.
— DPA |
|
Rights groups grill Modi
over Godhra London, August 19 “I have never used terminology minority or majority but only ‘Abhayam’ (protection) to all,” Mr Modi, who is on a four-day visit to the UK, told reporters here late last night. Asked to comment on the charges levelled by several London-based rights groups that he was responsible for the “massacre of Muslims in Gujarat”, the Chief Minister avoided a direct answer but noted that no one had asked such questions to the USA after the September 11 events or to Delhi after the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. When his attention was drawn to a report in a leading London daily comparing him to Hitler or Pol Pot, Mr Modi said he had not read it and he would not like to read it. Mr Modi also rejected allegations that some non-government organisations diverted funds raised for the earthquake survivors in the state for carrying out anti- Muslim activities. “As far as the government is concerned, whatever donations given to the government are fully utilised for rehabilitation of earthquake victims,” Mr Modi added. Rehabilitation work was still going on in a few areas and the non-government organisations still have one year to utilise whatever funds they have collected, he said. “As far as my information goes, institutions which are actively involved in the rehabilitation must be complimented for their remarkable work and there is not even a single complaint against any organisation,” he said.
— PTI |
|
11-year jail for charity founder New York, August 19 Enaam Arnaout, 41, whom prosecutors sought to link with Laden was sentenced to 11 years and four months in prison and must serve nearly 10 years before he is eligible for parole. The judge also imposed a fine of $ 315,624 to be given to the United Nations for the refugee work. Arnaout had admitted that he had diverted thousands of dollars from his charity, Benevolence International Foundation, to get supplies for militant groups in Bosnia and Chechnya.
— PTI |
 |
| 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 | |
