 |
|
Saddam Hussein
was captured 200 feared dead
in landslides
Nepal not to
allow territory for use
Pak court upholds
love marriage |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chandrika
secretly extends Book on India’s
contribution to Bangla war
|
|
Saddam Hussein was captured by Kurds
London, December 21 The story of the fallen dictator’s capture last Saturday in a “spider hole” near his birthplace of Tikrit exposes the version peddled by Americans as incomplete. According to the report in The Sunday Express, Saddam had already been handed over to Kurdish forces, who then brokered a deal with US commanders. He was drugged and abandoned, ready for the American troops to recover him. Saddam was betrayed to the Kurds by a member of the al-Jabour tribe whose daughter was “defiled” by Uday, the report quoting a senior British military intelligence officer said. “There was no question of the tribe claiming the £16-million reward from the USA. Apparently it was a question of honour. The Kurdish Patriotic Front held him while they thrashed out their own deal. It didn’t just involve the reward but it involved gaining some sort of political advantage in the region.” There had been bad blood between the dictator and the al-Jabour tribe since the raped woman’s husband tried to take revenge and was shot by Uday’s bodyguard. The tribe threatened to take revenge. When he heard the news, Saddam visited the family of the dead man and paid them £7 million in blood money with the chilling warning: “If you try to take revenge you will force me to wipe out the al-Jabour tribe.” The news that Saddam was a prisoner and not in hiding would explain his dishevelled state when he was found by Kurdish special forces from the patriotic front and US soldiers. He was unable to climb out of the hole on his own because the lid that covered it was also sealed down with a carpet and some rubble. A former Iraqi intelligence officer now living in Qatar said he believed Saddam was betrayed shortly after his last audio message was released to the world via Arab television on November 16. “He was dumped in that hole in Ad Dawr after being handed over to the Patriotic Front by his own tribesmen and held prisoner until Jalal Talabani made his own negotiations,” said the Iraqi. Talabani is a leader of the Patriotic Front, one of two main Kurdish parties in north Iraq who fought alongside US forces during the war. A report said Saddam’s cook spiked his food before he was delivered to the front. According to the report, a western intelligence source stationed in the Middle East said, “Saddam was not captured as a result of any American or British intelligence. We knew that someone would eventually take their revenge, it was just a matter of time.” “The net really began to close when his family fled to Jordan and Uday and Qusay were killed in Mosul. A £20-million reward went to the informer who gave information on their hiding place. However, I doubt if the reward for Saddam would be paid to those directly responsible for his capture. They will consider the family honour has been avenged... in Iraqi tribal society it will be frowned upon to accept money.” Immediately after the raid in which Saddam was captured, jubilant Kurdish officials leaked the news to an Iranian news agency hours before the USA had a chance to make an official announcement to the assembled media in Baghdad. The report also said secret talks were underway to fix a deal in which Saddam would be detained for life in a Qatari prison after his showcase trial. Intense behind-the-scene negotiations, brokered by Britain, will see the former dictator jailed in the tiny Gulf state, which is host to several US military bases, if the Iraqi court does not push for his execution.
— PTI |
|
Manila, December 21 Melchor Rosales, executive director of the National Disaster Coordination Centre, said the death toll had risen to at least 83 people, including 61 in the hard-hit central province of Southern Leyte, and 123 others were still missing. Officials feared the final fatality count will rise as bad weather, blocked roads and downed power and telephone lines hampered rescue and recovery work. Leyte Gov. Rosette Lerias, who visited the devastated mountainside village of Punta today, reported 16 more dead which would place the official count at 99. The varying death tolls reflected the chaos that’s followed the destruction. “I just came from a very, very depressing site,’’ Lerias told The Associated Press on the phone. She said Punta was a picture of mayhem, with more than half of its 83 houses either destroyed or buried under huge mounds of earth, debris and coconut trees. “There was mud all over, you couldn’t see anything but rooftops with the houses submerged in mud. There’s debris, wood, old clothes, kitchen utensils strewn all around ... in one spot they dug up the hand of a child,’’ Lerias said. Rescuers have so far found 49 bodies in Punta, which had about 360 residents, she said.
— AP |
|
Nepal not to allow territory for use against India Kathmandu, December 21 “We both must make sure that open border is not used by undesirable elements to create violence and instability,” Nepalese Finance Minister Prakash Chandra Lohani said in his inaugural address at a workshop on “Indo-Nepal Economic Cooperation” here. He stressed that to improve bilateral relations, the two sides should take into consideration four elements — political, economic, security and cultural aspects. Besides cooperating on the security issue, India and Nepal should jointly exploit opportunities available to them in the areas of water resources, tourism and information technology, he said. Addressing the workshop, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Shyam Saran underlined the need to transform and modernise connectivity between Nepal and India to improve relations. “The infrastructure along the four major checkpoints between Nepal and India, including Raxaul-Birgunj and Bhairahawa-Sunauli needs to be improved and modernised,” he said. Mr Saran also proposed supplying oil to Nepal from India through a pipeline. “Instead of transporting oil through a tanker to Nepal, India is ready to supply it through a pipeline which will also minimise pilferage”. He also pointed out the need to connect Nepal with major Indian railway lines and offered the country’s help in the matter. Various papers were presented at the workshop on topics like Emerging Trade opportunities between India and Nepal, Indo-Nepal joint venture opportunities and challenges and Indo-Nepal cooperation on private sector perspective. Presenting his paper, journalist C. Rajamohan said instead of playing the China card against India, Nepal, should play a bridge between India and China to attain its economic transformation. Nepal should create conducive atmosphere for luring Indian investors in the Himalayan Kingdom, he stressed.
— PTI |
|
Pak court upholds love marriage
Islamabad, December 21 The woman’s father has been fighting a legal battle to invalidate the 1996 marriage which flaunted tradition in Pakistan, where it’s rare for people to marry without their parents’ permission. On Friday, the court rejected the final appeal by the father, Hafiz Abdul Waheed, ruling that his daughter Saima Waheed had been at liberty to wed whom she wanted. “The consent of the Wali (guardian) is not required and an adult and sane Muslim female can enter into a valid nikah (marriage contract) of her own free will,’’ the three judges said.
— AP |
|
Chandrika secretly extends term by year
Colombo, December 21 Kumaratunga, who called for presidential elections in December, 1999 — a year ahead of schedule — was sworn in as President for her second and final six-year term which ends in December, 2005. However, The Sunday Times newspaper here claimed it had learnt that Kumaratunga had had a “secret ceremony” on November 11, 2000, before Chief Justice Sarath Silva to remain in power till November 11, 2006.
— PTI |
|
Book on India’s contribution to Bangla war Dhaka, December 21 “Contribution of India in the war of Liberation of Bangladesh”, authored by Salam Azad, was published here on Friday evening. A unique feature of the book is the casualty list of the war, which for the first time was made available to the public. “This book should have been written earlier. However, we thank the author for his courage and effort that he has given for the book,” noted Bangladeshi poet Shamsur Rahman was quoted by The Daily Star as saying. Professor Anisuzzaman of Dhaka University said it was a sad part of the nation’s history that such a book could not be published earlier.
— PTI |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | National Capital | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
