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Bush pays surprise visit to Iraq US not to oversee Indo-Pak peace initiatives UN names ‘contact group’ for Iraq Italian Embassy in Iraq attacked India, Israel to sign $ 100 m missile deal Two Indian students succumb to burns |
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Keep your word, EU official tells LTTE Court charges 3 for Istanbul attacks
Ten killed
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Bush pays surprise visit to Iraq
Baghdad, November 27 The visit, timed to coincide with the American holiday of Thanksgiving, was the first trip ever by an American President to Iraq — a mission tense with concern about his safety. “You are defending the American people from danger and we are grateful,” Mr Bush told some 600 soldiers who were stunned and delighted by his appearance. The president’s plane — its lights darkened and windows closed to minimise chances of making it a target — landed under a crescent moon at Baghdad International Airport. Mr Bush flew in on the plane he most often uses, and White House officials went to extraordinary lengths to keep the trip a secret, fearing its disclosure would prompt attempts to kill him. The news of Mr Bush’s trip was not released until he was in the air on the way back to the USA. Mr Bush spent only about two hours on the ground, limiting his visit to the airport dinner with US forces. —
AP
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US not to oversee Indo-Pak peace initiatives Washington, November 27 Asked about Ambassador-designate David Mulfords recent remarks about the USA not being interested in inserting itself as a mediator in Indo-Pakistan relations, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said what Mr Mulford was talking about was the “important role the USA does play with both those nations.” “But we have always made clear ... we’re not inserting ourselves as some kind of mediator; that the relationship that we have with Pakistan, the relationship the USA has with India, is not a triangular one, I think is the phrase Secretary Colin Powell always uses. He said the USA was not a manager in a “US-India-Pakistan relationship”. “We have relationships with two governments, two countries. Each of the relationships is important to us.” “Hence, we want to encourage them to deal with each other on the issues that are of concern. That’s why we’ve always stressed dialogue between the two countries themselves as the best route to address issues that are of concern to them, including Kashmir.” Asked if the USA played any role in the cease-fire agreed to by Pakistan and India, Mr Boucher said, “We’ve welcomed the statements that have been mad, the announcement by, I guess, the Pakistani Prime Minister first, and then the response, the very productive and constructive response from India.” “Both sides know their limits and are used to this type of exchange. It will not take much for forces on either side to revert to violence if they feel it is necessary.” However, US analysts said regardless of the motives behind Pakistan’s unilateral cease-fire across the line of control (LOC) in Kashmir, the ceasefire would be temporary. “The situation will return to business as usual: the two sides likely will trade fire along the LoC irrespective of official relations,” analysts at the Strategic Forecasting said in the latest South Asia report. It gave several possible reasons for Pakistan’s declaration. One was that Pakistan saw this as an opportune time to declare a cease-fire because militant traffic across the LoC naturally declines during the winter months. Another explanation, it said, was that it could be Islamabad’s response to India’s October 23 offer of 12 confidence-building measures and recent U S demands that Pakistan do more to curb militant traffic into both Afghanistan and India. Also, Stratfor said, a cease-fire could provide the much-needed respite for Pakistani troops. Cessation of hostilities aided Islamabad in creating a positive atmosphere for a possible visit by Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to Islamabad. Yet another motive for Pakistan could be to ‘earn points’ in Washington.
— UNI |
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UN names ‘contact group’ for Iraq United Nations, November 27 The group comprises six countries that border Iraq plus Egypt, five permanent members of the Security Council and five non-permanent members. Spain was added to the group later in the day, according to UN spokesman Fred Eckhard yesterday. The group is meant to coordinate the approaches of neighbouring countries and the rest of the international community. “It is not unusual for the Secretary-General to form a small group of advisers he intends to consult periodically for his own purposes,” Mr Eckhard said. The countries are to be represented at the level of their ambassadors to the United Nations. The neighbours are Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Kuwait and Egypt. Mr Eckhard said the four non-permanent members chosen by Mr Annan in consultation with the President of the council were Germany, Angola, Chile, Spain and Pakistan. Mr Annan spoke with US Secretary of State Colin Powell on the weekend, in what Mr Eckhard said was a social call that included discussions on the Middle-East, Iraq, Iran and Georgia. Meanwhile, a new Security Council resolution endorsing the timetable for the US-led coalition handing over power to the Iraqi Governing Council and for holding of elections in the country may not materialise, diplomats and officials at the world body said. The reason, they cite, is that the US and Britain do not want any resolution to go beyond just endorsing the timetable. In another development, media reports from Washington quoted US officials as saying that Iraqis had told them their letter to the Security Council was sent by mistake. In a letter received by the UN on Monday, President of the Governing Council Jalal Talabani had sought a new Security Council resolution endorsing the agreement the Governing Council had entered into with the US on transfer of power. The report quoted American officials as saying that it was only the first draft that someone put into mail by mistake.
— AFP/PTI |
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Italian Embassy in Iraq attacked Baghdad, November 27 In a political setback for the US-led occupation, key figures in the powerful Shiite Muslim leadership criticised the US plan to transfer power to Iraqis, saying elections should occur sooner than planned. A US military convoy came under attack today on the main highway west of Baghdad near the town of Abu Ghraib, witnesses said. An Associated Press Television News cameraman filmed two flatbed military trucks that were abandoned and left with their cabs blazing fiercely as dozens of people converged to loot tyres and other vehicle parts. The military had no immediate information. In Mosul, unidentified gunmen today shot dead an Iraqi police sergeant, Brig-Gen Muwaffaq Mohammed said.
— AP |
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India, Israel to sign $ 100 m missile deal Jerusalem, November 27 To date the Indian Army has purchased some $ 260 million worth of Barak missiles from Israel, but the upcoming deal with Israeli Aircraft Industries (IAI) will be the Indian Navy’s third purchase of the missile. The surface-to-surface Barak Missile, is produced in Israel and in service with Israeli Navy’s Saar 5 patrol boats. India had first mounted the system on its aircraft carrier INS Viraat. The Haaertz daily said the Barak Missile, during a recent test by the Indian Navy, veered off course and fell into the sea. It attributed the failure during the launch to problem in communication frequencies between the missile and the warship. Another possible reason for the failure was a problem in the missile’s control and guiding system that stopped the missile’s flight, the daily reported. However, a second missile back-up launched in the same test, hit its target accurately, sources said. India has emerged as one of the largest buyers of Israeli military hardware in recent years and is acquiring the Phalcon earning warning radars. Both sides have also discussed the transfer of the Arrow-2 surface-to-air missiles as part of India’s defence against ballistic missiles.
— PTI |
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Two Indian students succumb to burns Moscow, November 27 Of the seven injured Indian students, two have died of their burn injuries, the Indian Students Association in Moscow said today. A major fire ripped through a five-storey dormitory of People's Friendship University here on Monday, killing 40 students and injuring over 140. The association, which also held a protest demonstration in front of the Indian Embassy here against, what it alleged, the "indifferent attitude" adopted by the Indian diplomats towards the injured, said the wounded Indian students were in "grave condition" in hospitals. The Indian Embassy "has not shown any sympathy or care towards them," Ravi, an executive member of the association, alleged. Meanwhile, the Vice-Chancellor of People's Friendship University, Prof Bilibin, resigned today, accepting moral responsibility for the tragedy.
— PTI |
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Prabhakaran denies move towards separate state Colombo, November 27 Delivering his annual Heroes Week address, Prabhakaran said his interim self-governing authority plan, unveiled last month, had been “misinterpreted” as a project for a separate state. “It is true that our proposal...calls for a substantial self-governing authority without which massive programmes for the resettlement and rehabilitation.... could not be undertaken,” he said. He said the peace plan put forward through Norwegian peace brokers could be a starting point for negotiations and was not a final settlement. However, he threatened secession if the government continued to deny the rights to the Tamil people. “If the Sinhala chauvinistic ruling elite continues to deny the rights of our people and opposes reconciliation and if the conditions of oppression continue, we have no alternative other than to secede and form an independent state invoking the right to self-determination of our people. “We urge the Sinhala political leadership not to create the objective conditions that would drive our people to seek this ultimate option,” Prabhakaran said. The LTTE leader condemned the deepening power struggle between President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, saying it had jeopardised the Oslo-sponsored peace bid. He also alleged that critical reviews are coming from the Indian media world and from Indian political analysts. He said President Kumaratunga’s move sacking three key ministers in Wickremesinghe’s government four days after the LTTE had set out their plan had threatened the peace process. “Whatever the reasons she attributes to her actions, it has now become a universal truth that she took this serious action as an immediate response to our draft proposals. He said the LTTE was ready to resume peace talks they suspended in April, but the political power struggle in Colombo was an impediment.
— PTI |
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Keep your word, EU official tells LTTE The LTTE should stand by its commitment on ceasefire and declare that they would not return to terrorism and violence, European Union Commissioner for External Relations Chris Patten said in Chennai on Thursday. Delivering a lecture on “Conflict management and peace building’ here, Mr Patten, who held talks with LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran at Killinochi on Wednesday on the peace process, said the international community would have nothing but hostility and contempt for the LTTE “unless it says that it has turned its back to terrorism and violence as a political tool.’’ The international community expected the LTTE to commit itself to the peace process, as establishment of peace was not only important for the island nation, but also for the entire region and the world, he added. He said during his talks with Prabhakaran, “I insisted that the LTTE should stand by its commitment, given as part of the ceasefire agreement, on child soldiers and not assassinating political leaders.’’ Mr Patten also underscored to the LTTE chief, the importance of involving the Muslim community in the talks and the peace process. He said the European Union was committed to reconstruct Sri Lanka and was willing to extend considerable resources for the purpose. “I hope to sign the cheques in the next few months,’’ he added. “You have to ask him,’’ Mr Patten said when asked how the LTTE leader responded to his suggestions for restoring peace in the region. The EU leader rejected a suggestion that involving the Muslim community in the peace talks would result in delaying the peace process. “I think the Muslim community has every right to be involved in the peace process,’’ he said, adding that they should not have the feeling that they were minorities.
— UNI |
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Court charges 3 for Istanbul attacks Istanbul, November 27 The three, charged late yesterday, were among four persons — two men and two woman — who were sent before the judge. The fourth was released, it said. They were charged in connection with the November 20 attacks, but owing to a state-imposed media blackout the exact nature of the charges was not immediately known. The death toll from the twin bomb attacks on the British Consulate and London-based HSBC bank in Istanbul rose to 30 earlier on Wednesday when a Turkish woman died of injuries, the Health Department here said.
— AFP |
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Ten killed
in China warehouse fire Beijing, November 27 The fire occurred at a seven-storey building in Zijin street in Xialuozhai village in Choucheng county, Xinhua news agency reported. Firemen and the police rushed to the site and saved five women workers. But three of the workers tried to jump out of the windows to save their lives, and one died while two others were injured. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
— PTI |
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Space station crew hear grinding sound Moscow, November 27 A space official said the sound might have been produced by equipment on the station, but a spokesman for Russia’s Space Forces attributed the noise to a brush with floating space junk. Mr Valery Lyndin, a spokesman for Mission Control outside Moscow, said: “All station’s systems are working normally” after the sound was reported early yesterday. An inspection of the station’s outer surface by outside cameras found no sign of damage, he said. Mr Sergei Gorbunov, a spokesman for the Russian Aerospace Agency, said on NTV television that the crew heard what “sounded as if a tin can was being crushed,” but the ensuing check had found no trace of impact. “The check made by the crew found no changes either in the equipment section or the atmosphere of the station, which would have changed instantly if the station’s skin were punctured,” Mr Gorbunov said. The station is manned by US astronaut Michael Foale and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri. Mr Gorbunov said the sound might have come from some of the station’s equipment, not a collision.
— AP |
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Baghdad, November 27
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Istanbul, November 27
BANGOR (MAINE): Best-selling author Stephen King was expected to remain in a Maine hospital for several days as he recovers from pneumonia, a spokesman said. King is conscious and in good spirits in Eastern Maine Medical Center and is expected to recover fully, his spokesman, Warren Silver’ said on Wednesday.
— AP 
UK
POET REJECTS ROYAL HONOUR