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3 women working for US-led coalition killed Iraq minister says US forces need power Court’s nod to razing of refugee homes Arafat hampering US efforts, says Powell |
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Quetta attack linked to banned group
Window on Pakistan Pak hopes new peace process
to continue 18 die in Pak family feud Fresh moves in Sri Lanka to save peace bid
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3 women working for US-led coalition killed Baghdad, May 16 Scattered clashes broke out in the southern city of Nasiriyah between al-Sadr’s forces and Italian troops at a bridge across the Euphrates river, residents and Italian media said. Two al-Sadr militiamen were killed today, according to local resident, Ghaith Majeed. The killings were part of a rebel strategy to deter cooperation between Iraqis and the coalition that plans to hand over sovereignty on June 30, and there was also scattered violence across Iraq’s Shia southern heartland between coalition troops and armed supporters of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. A bomb exploded yesterday in front of the home of a translator for the Americans in Kut, 130 km southeast of Baghdad, but caused no casualties, the police said. In Basra, assailants fired a mortar shell that landed on a house near a British military base, killing four Iraqi civilians, including 2-year-old girl twins, witnesses said. Four persons were injured. All victims were from the same family. In Nasiriyah, most civilian staffers of the coalition were evacuated from their headquarters because of growing threats from fighters loyal to al-Sadr, the radical cleric who launched an uprising against the occupation last month and faces an arrest warrant in the murder of a rival moderate cleric last year. A coalition official, Andrea Angeli, said only two civilians remained in the coalition headquarters, which was attacked on Friday by al-Sadr militiamen who were pushed back by Italian forces. The rest of the 10-member staff was evacuated on Saturday afternoon to the coalition military base 10 km out of town, said Angeli, who was among those evacuated. The attackers who fired on the bus in Baghdad also detonated explosives in it, killing the driver and injuring another women. Early today, a woman Iraqi translator working with US troops was killed and another was critically injured when gunmen broke into their houses in Mahmoudiyah.
— AP |
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Iraq minister says US forces need power to act Baghdad, May 16 “We cannot have a situation where every time there is a threat to security we go through the political and bureaucratic procedure of getting approvals,” Interior Minister Samir Sumaidy said in an interview. The extent of U.S. control over security has cast doubt over how much power the current U.S.-backed administration will cede to an unelected Iraqi Government due to take over on June 30. A U.S. offensive in the city of Falluja provoked widespread Iraqi anger last month and calls for the new government to have power of veto over U.S.-led military operations.
— Reuters |
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Court’s nod to razing of refugee homes in Gaza Jerusalem, May 16 US Secretary of State Colin Powell said the USA had opposed the demolition of homes in the Rafah refugee camp and urged an end to the cycle of violence. Around 120,000 Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s stalled Gaza pullout after militants in the area killed 13 soldiers this week, dealing the West Asia’s mightiest army its worst blow in two years. Refusing to extend a stay sought by a Palestinian rights group, the court appeared to set broad terms for bulldozing homes in the “Philadelphi” buffer zone, saying the army could destroy houses for operational purposes or to protect soldiers. Israeli political sources said hundreds of homes in Rafah refugee camp, on the edge of the corridor where the army suffered seven of the 13 fatalities, could be razed to widen the area and make it safer to patrol. UN relief officials estimated that Israeli armoured bulldozers flattened more than 80 buildings in Rafah in the past days, leaving about 1,100 Palestinians homeless. The army said it demolished structures used by gunmen. “We will not allow Palestinian terrorism to attain the capabilities it aspires to, which would threaten the heart of the nation even after our disengagement from Gaza,” Sharon told his cabinet at its weekly meeting today.
— Reuters |
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Arafat hampering US efforts, says Powell Southern Shuneh, Jordan, May 16 Winding up his latest effort to push peacemaking forward, without any apparent concrete results, Powell also criticized Arafat for a statement the Palestinian leader made Saturday to his people urging them to “find whatever strength you have to terrorize your enemy.” “Mr Arafat continues to take actions and make statements to make it exceptionally difficult to move forward” on peacemaking, Powell said at a news conference before returning to Washington from the World Economic Forum held at an isolated Dead Sea resort. He said Arafat “refuses to allow consolidation of security forces” among the Palestinians, a key US demand intended to curb terror attacks and motivate Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to push ahead with efforts to reach a settlement with the Palestinians. “What I need from the Palestinians is for them to get themselves ready to exercise solid political control over Gaza when it’s turned back to them and to put into place security forces that can do that,” Powell said later in an interview taped with ABC for broadcast on the network’s “This Week” show. “What they need to do is to wrest control of the security forces from Chairman Arafat. ... The Palestinian leaders can do it and the leaders of the Arab world can do it by saying to Chairman Arafat that you’re policies have not been successful, your leadership has not be successful in moving this process forward.”
— AP |
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Quetta attack linked to banned group Quetta, Pakistan, May 16 “Both the terrorists were active members of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi,’’ Shoaib Suddle, chief of police of Baluchistan province, told a news conference in the provincial capital Quetta. He said a local policeman had also been arrested after hosting meetings during which plans for the March 7 attack were finalised. The attack on a Shi’ite procession was the worst sectarian violence in Pakistan since a July suicide attack on a Shi’ite mosque in Quetta, which killed more than 57 persons. On March 7, the attackers used automatic weapons and threw five grenades on a crowd of thousands of Shi’ites, who make up some 15 per cent of the overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim nation of 150 million people. Later the two, identified by Suddle as Abdul Nabi (alias Sajjad) and Hidayatullah, blew themselves up. Suddle said that in a recorded CD before the attack, the two militants declared they were at war with Shi’ites.
— Reuters |
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Musharraf for review of Hudood laws Islamabad, May 16 Speaking at a convention on human rights yesterday, Musharraf said the strict Islamic laws passed under the military dictatorship of late General Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq in 1979 should be studied afresh to ensure they were not misused. “The nation should not shy away from re-examining the Hudood Ordinance by scholars, lawyers and legislators within the teachings of the Koran, the official APP news agency quoted Musharraf as saying.” “Islam says we must reach a decision through discussion ... why should a discussion be opposed on an ordinance which is the creation of human mind,” he added. One of the most controversial provisions of the Hudood laws states that a woman must have four pious male Muslim witnesses to prove a rape, or face a charge of adultery herself. Men and women found guilty of adultery face stoning to death or 100 lashes. Secular political parties, civil rights and women’s groups say rape and other violent crimes against women have soared since the passage of Hudood laws. The private Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) says the incidence of rape could be higher than the one every two hours reported in the local media. But successive governments have failed to change the laws because of stiff opposition from Islamic groups. Musharraf took power in a bloodless coup in 1999 and vowed to turn Pakistan into a moderate, progressive Muslim nation. He said his general’s uniform, which he has pledged to take off at the end of this year, had helped him take bold steps on human rights issues. Critics say he had little to show for his efforts because of strong opposition from hardline Islamist groups. Last December, Musharraf survived two assassination attempts blamed on militants linked to Al-Qaida who are angry over his support for the US-led war on terror. Musharraf said the country’s blasphemy law should also be reviewed. The blasphemy law prescribes the death for insulting Prophet Mohammad, other prophets and holy books, but rights groups say it is often used to settle personal scores. “The blasphemy law needs to be looked into so that justice is done and it is not misused to victimise the innocent,” Musharraf said.
— Reuters |
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Window
on Pakistan For Pakistan’s public and newspapers, Indian elections provided a good chance to hammer the point that the neighbour was not only an economic success story, but also a vibrant democracy. It was time to lambast the army for wresting political control and weakening civil institutions. The newspapers mainly focused on two issues — One. Why did the NDA lose? Second. What impact will the new government have on peace process. Genuine fears and assurances from Congress leaders found prominent place in the newspapers. Why did the NDA lose? Urdu daily Jang’s sister newspaper News wrote, Evidently no one in Pakistan counted on the economy, which was one of the weakest aspects of the Vajpayee government and the violence which was rampant during his regime, particularly the bloody anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat. There were other factors too, like the BJP being unable to fulfil its election promises, particularly its less savoury ones of building the Ram temple on the disputed site of the Babri Masjid or banning cow slaughter. This was especially important to the Hindu communalists who form the BJP’s vote bank. A change, therefore, was in order, even if Pakistanis impressed by the simplicity and friendliness of the Indian leader desired him to win. Daily Times carried an article by Satyabrata Rai Chowdhuri, a former professor of International Relations at Oxford and Research Coordinator at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. He wrote, The biggest factor in this stunning upset was voter anger at the BJP. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), had brought the country unprecedented rates of growth, but its policies and, more importantly, its language seemed to ignore the vast majority of poor Indians who had benefited little from the country’s new high-tech economy. The BJP campaigned as if it deserved a coronation for the many good changes they brought. But instead of a coronation, India’s voters preferred a restoration of the Gandhis. Dawn commented, one very important reason for the BJP’s defeat was that the masses strongly felt that they had been left out by the country’s economic boom. As the champion of the free market economy, the BJP came to be seen as being responsible for the growing poverty of the rural masses. In fact, the party’s “India Shining” slogan clearly backfired with the common people. The Congress was quick to capitalise on the situation and focused its campaign on the 300 million poor and projected itself as the party of the masses. Another factor working against the BJP was its avowed commitment to Hindutva, which translated into a policy of
saffronisation of every sector of national life. This alienated the non-Hindu minorities, especially the Muslims, who constitute a substantial vote bank in India. Ikram Sehgal in the Nation noted, India’s phenomenal economic progress in the past decade translated itself into political power for India externally and for the BJP internally. India would already be recognised as a world player in the China-Class, if Kashmir did not act as a drag. Its IT sector outstripped developed and developing countries alike, Bangalore became an alternate Silicon Valley. Software aside, out-sourcing from the US and other G-8 countries has become a major foreign exchange earner, giving gainful employment to the perennially suffering middle class. But then Sehgal added, India lives and that is where a backlash to India Shining started. As the electoral results have shown, public perception looks for instant returns. Mobile phones and gas connections cut no ice with those who cannot afford them, they need food, water and shelter. |
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Pak hopes new peace process to continue Islamabad, May 16 “We expect that process initiated by Mr Vajpayee will be continued by the Congress government with more vigour as Ms Sonia Gandhi has said that the peace process between us will further be accelerated,” Mr Kasuri, who left for US today, told BBC. He said Pakistan appreciated Gandhi’s statement that not only this peace process would continue but would further be strengthened and accelerated. “This is a good development.” Mr Kasuri said Pakistan expected the relations would be further improved because people of the two countries wanted peace as demonstrated during the recent cricket series. He said while there were instances of burning the cricket stadiums in the past in the event of defeat but his time not even single untoward incident took place in Pakistan. Mr Kasuri also recalled the visits of various political leaders from India last year to study the situation here. They were from the larger political parties of India like the Congress and the BJP, who in their meetings in Pakistan said that they were with this peace process, he said.
— PTI |
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18 die in Pak family feud Islamabad, May 16 The Dawn said gun-fighting erupted between the families late last night in Gujarat district, about 110 km east of Islamabad after a panchayat failed to settle their feud. Chaudhry Ishtiaq alias Shaqi, who was eventually killed in the exchange of fire, had set ablaze the house of his rival, Kakay Shah, on Friday. The report said security has been beefed up in the area. The local administration has declared an emergency in the district hospital. Meanwhile, a tribal clash left nine people, including two women, dead and 11 injured in Baluchistan province yesterday.
— DPA |
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Fresh moves in Sri Lanka to save peace bid Colombo, May 16 Japan, Sri Lanka’s main financial backer, sent special peace envoy Yasushi Akashi here yesterday for talks with local leaders as well as Tamil Tiger rebels on the fate of a $ 4.5 billion aid package pledged to rebuild the country. The US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs, Christina Rocca, was in the island conducting talks, but unlike Akashi, she is not meeting Tigers who are banned in the USA since 1997. Officials said the stepped up diplomatic activity this month is a sign that the international community wants the new government here to pursue peace and uphold the ceasefire that is in place since February 2002. There were fears for the truce as well as the entire peace process after a dozen of killings since April 25 with the Tigers warning that they could not simply watch the violence. Tiger rebels as well as a government soldier were among those killed. The Tigers had charged that Sri Lankan troops were behind the spate of killings and warned that the murders placed the Norwegian-backed peace process in jeopardy. “We are afraid that it may become impossible for us to be patient onlookers of this cavalier fashion in which killings are being carried out,” LTTE’s political wing leader S.P. Thamilselvan said. However, since the warnings there had been no fresh killings of Tiger cadres. The President on Friday appointed a former United Nations diplomat, Jayantha Dhanapala, to head the government’s “peace secretariat” and spearhead negotiations with the Tigers.
— PTI |
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US Indians prefer Aditya, Shreya Silicon Valley, May 16 With 254 boys named Aditya in 2003, the name ranked 723 in the Department of Social Security Administration’s overall list of 1,000 most popular baby names in the United States. Arjun, ranked 771, was the second most popular Indian name. The other popular names were Pranav, Rahul and Amav. Among female Indian baby names, Shreya ranked first (795 overall rank) with 311 babies named thus, followed by Amiya and Asha.
— PTI |
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Baghdad, May 16
Southern Shuneh,
Jordan, May 16
