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Tigers hand over proposals to Norway Mahathir retires after 22 years
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Pak Oppn leader to be tried for treason Last Tory heavyweight stands aside for Howard
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Tigers hand over proposals to Norway Colombo, October 31 Norwegian Ambassador here Hans Brattskar travelled in a military helicopter to the rebel-held town of Kilinochchi, 330 km north of here, to receive the proposals. Mr Brattskar returned to Colombo to give the proposals of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to the government’s chief peace negotiator, Mr G.L. Peiris. “Political wing leader S.P. Thamilselvan handed over the proposals to Ambassador Brattskar and they went in for discussions thereafter,” spokesman Daya Master said on the telephone. Officials here said they would communicate the rebel plan to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who flew to London earlier today on his way to Washington for talks with President George W Bush. The details of the rebel plan were not immediately announced by any of the three players involved in the process, but the government’s top peace negotiator, Mr G.L. Peiris, said they were expected to make their first response known by tomorrow morning. Mr Peiris had earlier in the day met with Indian diplomats. The Tigers have never before put down their political proposals in writing and had only rejected proposals of consecutive Colombo governments. In their latest move, the Tigers are almost going back towards country’s 13th Constitutional Amendment which is in line with the Indo-Sri Lanka peace accord which they repudiated in 1987. The Tigers want powers devolved in line with the Indo-Lanka agreement to be handed over to a 100-member council that will be dominated by them, but will also have minority Muslim and majority Sinhalese representation. They want a six-year term for an interim council that would take over the virtual administration of the North-East before a final deal is concluded, diplomatic sources said. They said the proposals were believed to be reasonable and within the Sri Lankan constitution which envisaged a degree of political autonomy to its provinces. However, the rebels would not decommission their weapons or disband their combat units until a new constitution is enacted, the privately run ‘Sunday Leader’ newspaper said, quoting a draft proposal. The newspaper said the LTTE envisaged a system under which it could negotiate direct foreign loans and had greater control over the use of land. These concessions were offered by Colombo in previous peace plans. The Tigers said that setting up an interim administration for embattled regions was a pre-condition for ending their boycott of Norwegian-brokered peace talks. The Tigers suspended their participation in talks in April, accusing the government of failing to deliver on promises made at six rounds of talks held since September last.
— PTI |
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Mahathir retires after 22 years
Singapore, October 31 “What determines success is the culture or the value system which is accepted and practised,’’ said Dr Mahathir, who handed over the premiership to his deputy Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Mr Abdullah was sworn in as the fifth Prime Minister of Malaysia today. Malaysia could not stand alone in an increasingly interdependent world, said Dr Mahathir, who has often criticised the Western world. In an environment which is continuously changing, Malaysia has no choice but to increase its competitiveness, strengthen its resilience and increase its productivity and creativity, he said. On a personal note, Dr Mahathir also said he was “not satisfied’’ with what he had achieved during his 22-year tenure as Prime Minister and President of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) because “there is a lot more that can be done.’’ Dr Mahathir was given the highest title of the land, Tun, just after he stepped down from the premiership.
— UNI |
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USA should prevail upon Pak: report Washington, October 31 The world fears that the jihad that Pakistan had been supporting in Kashmir could trigger a fourth Indo-Pakistan conflict, the task force set up by the Council on Foreign Relations and the Asia Society has said. It has urged the USA to “press Musharraf harder to end permanently the use of Pakistani territory as a base for jihadi attacks on Kashmir and pro-Taliban efforts against Afghanistan.” Under pressure from the USA and others after New Delhi threatened war in December, 2001, and again in May, 2002, it noted, that Musharraf promised to take steps to stop infiltration permanently across the Kashmir LoC. “He has done so only partly, however, presumably calculating that the US need for Pakistani cooperation against Al-Qaida is such that Washington will not press too hard on this issue”, it noted. “But, as the Bush administration has repeatedly stated, there are no good or bad terrorists, just bad ones. Pakistan should thus be pressed harder to prevent its territory being used by jihadi terrorists to mount attacks against Kashmir”, the task force said. Although there are few direct financial costs to Pakistan for supporting jihad in Kashmir, the indirect costs have been substantial, the task force said.
— PTI |
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Pak Oppn leader to be tried for treason
Islamabad, October 31 “Is he the member of Parliament of this country or of Indian Parliament,” Mr Hayat was quoted as saying by the local daily, The News. Mr Hayat, who defected last year from former Premier Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party to join Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali’s government, also criticised the Opposition for putting up a combined resistance for the release of Mr Hashmi. — PTI  |
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Last Tory heavyweight stands aside for Howard London, October 31 Although nominations close only on Thursday next week, all serious contenders to take over from Mr Iain Duncan Smith have now stood aside to avoid the kind of lengthy and divisive contest fought out two years ago when Mr Duncan Smith took over from Mr William Hague. Mr Clarke was Chancellor of the Exchequer under former Tory Prime Minister John Major. He is seen as on the party’s left-wing and is strongly in favour of Britain joining the Euro zone, whereas Mr Howard is a rightwing former Home Secretary who is opposed to adopting the single European currency. “I’m not going to give up any other of my bad habits but coming second in Conservative leadership elections is something I don’t intend to do,” he told Sky News in reference to the fact that he had lost in the two previous contests. “So I shall support whoever emerges as leader but I’m not standing myself,” he said, echoing sentiments expressed by other senior Tories, in an attempt to heal the rifts caused by weeks of speculation over Mr Duncan Smith’s demise. Mr Clarke welcomed Howard’s pledge to “lead from the centre” and said he and Mr Howard were old friends.
— DPA |
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London, October 31
