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USA to hand over Saddam in two weeks Human trafficking: USA puts India on Indo-Pak talks on drug trafficking roll on
Militant shot in Pakistan
Resolve Kashmir issue for peace,
says Kasuri Natwar asked to chair Heads of Missions meeting |
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1.17 lakh Indians to perform Haj next year Explosions rock US base Spurned doctor throws acid at patient
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USA to hand over Saddam in two weeks
Baghdad, June 15 “All detainees will be transferred to the Iraqi authorities and the transporting operation will be done within next two weeks,” he said. He said the former Iraqi President would stand trial “as soon as possible”, but he gave no specific timeframe for the same. The status of ousted ruler has been a subject of discussion as the formal end of the occupation approaches. A spokesperson of the International Committee of the Red Cross said the coalition authorities must file criminal charges against Saddam or let him go when sovereignty was transferred to the Iraqi Government. Under international and military law, prisoners of war and civilian internees were supposed to be freed at the end of the conflict and occupation, unless there were charges against them, Red Cross spokesperson Nada Doumani said. Saddam was granted prisoner of war status after he was captured in December last near Tikrit. Although he is alleged to have committed crimes against his own people, he has not been formally charged with any offence. “If he is not charged, the law says that at the end of occupation, he should be released,” Doumani said. In Geneva, chief spokeswoman of the international Red Cross Antonella Notari said the organisation was not calling for Saddam’s release, but simply stating the rules under the international law. “We’re not making any ultimatums or calls for his release,” she said. “What we’re saying is: Saddam Hussein, as far as we understand today, is a prisoner of war protected by the third Geneva Convention as all prisoners of war are.” “In theory, when a war and an occupation ends, the detaining force has to release prisoners of war or civilian detainees, if there are no reasons for holding them,” she said. But she added, “A prisoner of war, who is suspected of having committed a crime, must not just be released. Of course, he must be prosecuted and tried as per legal provisions.”
— AP |
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Human trafficking: USA puts India on watch list Washington, June 15 Besides India, other Asian countries in the “Tier 2” of the Watch List for 2003 by the US State Department are Japan, Laos, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Nations deemed to be complying with the USA and international efforts to fight human trafficking are placed under “Tier 1” while those making “significant efforts” are placed under “Tier 2”. Bangladesh is the only South Asian country to be put in “Tier 3” in the Department’s “Trafficking in Persons” report released yesterday. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who delivered the report to President George W. Bush and the US Congress and also released it to the media, warned that countries falling under “Tier 3” faced “significant sanctions”. He estimated that six to eight lakh cases of trafficking victims were taken across international frontiers each year. That did not include those who were victimised within their own countries. The vast majority of victims, international and otherwise, were women and children. Powell called on all nations to redouble their determination to prevent people from being lured into trafficking in the first place.
— PTI |
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Indo-Pak talks on drug trafficking roll on New Delhi, June 15 The Tribune understands that an important point of discussion today was setting up of a mechanism for sharing of intelligence between India and Pakistan so that the two could wage a joint fight against the menace. The two sides are also understood to have discussed checking financing of terrorism through proceeds of drug trade. The talks assume significance because this year there has been a record cultivation of poppy in Afghanistan, which in terms of heroin means more than 6,000 tonnes. Pakistan-based drug cartels manage and control the entire drug operations in Afghanistan from the stage of poppy cultivation to its conversion into heroin and finally packaging and its smuggling. The six-member Indian delegation at the talks is led by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Director-General M.K. Singh while the Pakistani side is headed by its Narcotics Control Division Secretary Major Khalid Latif. The Indian delegation also includes officials from the BSF and the Ministries of Home and External Affairs. The meeting of the India-Pakistan Committee on Drug Trafficking and Smuggling is understood to have held discussions on the use of drugs and their link with HIV/AIDS, elimination of poppy cultivation in Afghanistan and illegal drug trade between the two countries. |
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Islamabad, June 15 The militant opened fire, wounding a paramilitary trooper, while trying to drive through a check-post in South Waziristan. The security forces had ended a five-day offensive in that area on Sunday. At least 55 militants and 17 soldiers were killed in that offensive. “In recent incident, the militant was travelling in a van and instead of stopping at the post, he started firing,” Major-General Shaukat Sultan said. “Our soldiers retaliated, killing him and wounding four members of his family, including two children,” he added. He did not give the nationality of the dead man. Witnesses in the area said at least one other militant escaped during the encounter. The latest incident took place at Jandola, around 325 km southwest of Islamabad and barely 60 km east of the tribal town of Wana that had been the focus of clashes in the past four months. Militants fired around six missiles at a paramilitary base in Jandola on Tuesday morning. A rocket was also fired at a check-post in Wana, but there were no serious casualties. During the last week’s offensive, the security forces, backed by artillery and fighter jets, destroyed hideouts and training camps of militants in the area bordering Afghanistan.
— Reuters |
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Resolve Kashmir
issue for peace, says Kasuri Islamabad, June 15 “It is quite encouraging that relations between Pakistan and India have improved as compared with the past,’’ Mr Kasuri currently attending the 31st session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers (ICFM) meet in Istanbul said yesterday. “The people will only refrain from militancy when these disputes are resolved on the basis of justice,’’ Mr Kasuri said.
— UNI |
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Natwar asked to chair Heads of Missions meeting
New Delhi, June 15 Among the issues that he discussed with the minister was the question of practical implementation of the recommendations of the Report of the World Commission on the Social Dimension of globalisation, a foreign office spokesman said. The report, prepared by a 21-member commission co-chaired by the Presidents of Tanzania and Finland, included leaders in several fields like Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and Vice-Chancellor of Delhi University, Deepak Nayyar. The DG said he had written to the Prime Minister, forwarding a copy of the Report of the World Commission. The DG briefed the minister on the main points of the report. At the continuing conference of the Heads of Missions, Mr Natwar Singh was briefed by 31 Heads of Missions about the important bilateral and regional issues concerning their countries of accreditation.
— TNS |
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1.17 lakh Indians to perform Haj next year Dubai, June 15 Ahamed, who arrived here on Sunday on a three-day visit at the invitation of Iyad bin Amin Madani, Minister of Haj, signed the agreement after detailed discussions on arrangements for Indian pilgrims. Of the total number of 1.17 lakh pilgrims, 72,000 will travel under the auspices of the Haj committee and 45,000 through private tour operators.
— PTI |
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Baghdad, June 15 Witnesses said mortar shells were fired from an area near a heavily populated base. US forces set up joint checkpoints with Karbala police and civil defence corps and fired at the area from where the shells had been fired. Meanwhile, US forces yesterday arrested the representative of radical Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr in Karbala. The police said Ahmad Rida al-Husseini was arrested after US forces raided his house and transported him to one of their bases.
— DPA |
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Spurned doctor throws acid at patient
Chisinau (Moldova), June 15 Petru Paduret, the doctor, told the police he attacked his former patient on Saturday, dumping one litre of sulphuric acid on the woman outside of her home in the suburbs of Chisinau, the capital, the police said in a statement. Paduret, 46, fled. But neighbours heard the woman, identified only as Alina M, scream, and rushed to her aid, taking her to a hospital. She died yesterday from burns suffered in the attack, and Paduret was arrested the same day.
— AP |
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