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Car bombs leave 41 dead in Iraq
Former Rwandan mayor gets 30 yrs jail for genocide British troops clash with al-Sadr men No proof of
Al-Qaida-Iraq nexus in 9/11: panel France adopts Bill on aliens’ expulsion |
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4 charged with Kosovo riots China no threat to Asia, says Narayanan
India pledges support to Palestinian cause Indian charged with fraud
5 Yemenis held in Kabul
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Car bombs leave 41 dead in Iraq Baghdad, June 17 The explosion in Baghdad, the deadliest attack since a bombing outside the same recruiting centre in February, was part of a surge of violence on US coalition forces and their Iraqi allies ahead of the transfer of sovereignty to Iraqis on June 30. The blast scattered bodies and debris across a four-lane highway outside Baghdad’s Muthanna airport, which is used as a base by both the Iraqi Civil Defence Corps and the US military. The explosion could be heard for several miles and sent a cloud of smoke over the city. Iraq’s Interior Minister said he believed an Al-Qaida-linked militant, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was connected to the bombing. No American or Iraqi troops were wounded, US army Col Mike Murray said. Most of the victims appeared to be poor Iraqis hoping to join the security forces because job opportunities here are limited. “This clearly again was an attack that has hurt the Iraqi people,’’ Col Murray said. Another car bomb exploded today afternoon in a village near Balad, 80 km north of Baghdad, killing six ICDC members and injuring four others, the US 1st Infantry Division said. The ICDC is the main internal security force, created by US administrators to battle insurgents. — AP |
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Former Rwandan mayor gets 30 yrs jail for genocide Arusha (Tanzania), June 1 Sylvestre Gacumbitsi (57) was sentenced to 30 years in prison by the three-judge panel of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in the Tanzanian town of Arusha. The court found Gacumbitsi guilty of genocide, extermination and rape. He was acquitted of a charge of complicity in genocide. Gacumbitsi ordered that weapons be distributed to ethnic Hutu soldiers and militia with the aim of killing all ethnic Tutsis in the southeastern commune of Rusumo, where he was the Mayor, the tribunal ruled. About 20,000 people were killed in Rusumo commune in a 10-day period in April 1994, according to testimony. Gacumbitsi personally directed the slaughter of about 3,000 Tutsi civilians who took refuge in a church in the village of Nyarubuye, said Judge Andresia Vaz, who read aloud the tribunal's unanimous verdict. The court also ruled that Gacumbitsi encouraged the systematic rape of Tutsi women. Witnesses testified during the trial that the security forces in Rusumo lured Tutsi women and children out of hiding with promises of safety, only to kill them. Gacumbitsi was arrested seven years after the genocide in a refugee camp in western Tanzania and pleaded not guilty to all charges when he was indicted by the tribunal. Prosecutor Richard Karegyesa had asked the court to impose a life sentence. The Hutu extremist government in Rwanda organised the massacre of up to one million ethnic Tutsis and Hutu political opponents in 1994 until it was defeated by the Tutsi-led rebel group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front.
— DPA |
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British troops clash with al-Sadr men Amarah (Iraq), June 17 No one was hurt, a British military spokesman said. Three British military vehicles were fired upon early today in two separate attacks in the city of Amarah, 290 km southeast of Baghdad, a British military spokesman said. None of the vehicles was damaged, the spokesman, who spoke on customary condition anonymity, said. The attacks happened after British forces detained militia leader, Ahmed Hachi. A British military spokesman said three people were arrested just after midnight Wednesday. He did not identify those arrested. According to the witnesses, the fighting lasted about an hour and a shop was burned. The trouble began only one day after al-Sadr took steps to honour an agreement meant to end fighting with US forces in Nafaj and Kufa, ordering fighters who did not live in those twin cities to return home. Many of the fighters who rushed to Najaf from Baghdad, Nasiriyah and other cities had already left after a truce brokered by Shia politicians and clerics to end nearly eight weeks of fighting around some of Shia Islam’s holiest shrines. The announcement was significant, however, because it indicated al-Sadr is taking steps toward defusing tensions in Shia areas and cooperating with the interim government and Shia clerical hierarchy.
— AP |
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No proof of
Al-Qaida-Iraq nexus in 9/11: panel The commission investigating the September 11, 2001, attacks on the USA said yesterday it had found “no credible evidence that Iraq and the Al-Qaida cooperated on attacks against the USA.” The conclusion contradicts a key premise of the Bush administration’s case to invade Iraq. The commission’s report says Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden “explored possible cooperation with Iraq during his time in Sudan, despite his opposition to Saddam Hussein’s secular regime. Bin Laden had, in fact, at one time sponsored anti-Saddam Islamists in Iraqi Kurdistan.” “There have been reports that contacts between Iraq and the Al-Qaida also occurred after Bin Laden had returned to Afghanistan, but they do not appear to have resulted in a collaborative relationship,” the report said. “Two senior Bin Laden associates have adamantly denied” any relationship, it added. A second report from the commission concluded that Mohamed Atta, the ringleader of the September 11 hijackers, did not meet an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague on April 9, 2001, contrary to claims made by Vice-President Dick Cheney and some other Bush administration officials. |
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France adopts Bill on aliens’ expulsion Paris, June 17 Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin vowed to strengthen the expulsion rules after Abdelkader Bouziane was deported to Algeria in April, and a local court ruled days later that the government had not justified its action and he could return. Bouziane, a prayer leader in the Lyon suburb of Venissieux, was quoted by the magazine Lyon Mag as saying that the Koran permitted the stoning of adulterers and the beating up of wives. He later said he was stating a fact and not giving his opinion. The new Bill extends the conditions under which a foreigner can be expelled from France to include persons who “explicitly and deliberately” call for “discrimination, hatred or violence against a specific person or a group of people”. The Bill now heads to the Senate, which will examine it in July, before a final reading in Parliament.
— Reuters |
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4 charged with Kosovo riots Pristina, June 17 The charges were the first “of a more serious nature”’ stemming from 48 hours of rioting in which 19 persons died and more than 800 Serb homes were set on fire, Neeraj Singh told Reuters. Around 270 persons have been arrested since the ethnic violence, the worst since the UN took control of the province in 1999. — Reuters |
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China no threat to Asia, says Narayanan
“I don’t think China’s rise is a threat to other countries. The Panchsheel was intended to remove the feeling of threat,” Narayanan said in an interview here yesterday. Mr Narayanan, who took part in the celebrations on the 50th anniversary of the formulation of Panchsheel- five principles of peaceful co-existence- recalled that former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had discussed the issue of “Chinese threat” with Mao Zedong and Zhu Enlai in 1954. “Mao replied to Nehru that we are prepared to abide by the five principle”, Mr Narayanan, who last visited China in 2000 as President, recalled. He pointed out that the five principles were then extended to Asia and the resultant discussions addressed the fears and apprehensions of South-East Asian countries. While India and China signed the Panchsheel agreement in 1954, he pointed out that Zhou Enlai visited Myanmar and signed a similar agreement and then India and Myanmar followed suit. Panchsheel, jointly initiated by India, China and Myanmar in 1954, includes mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit and peaceful co-existence. One of the topics of discussion at the two-day seminar on Panchsheel held on the occasion was the “Peaceful Rise of China” Mr Narayanan was one of the two keynote speakers at the seminar attended by a host of dignitaries including former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. |
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India a key strategic ally,
says Straw London, June 17 After a meeting here yesterday with the visiting External Affairs Minister, Mr K. Natwar Singh, his British counterpart, Mr Jack Straw, said India was a key strategic ally of the UK. “From the promotion of democracy to the expansion of the global economy to combating of international crime and terrorism—these are common, crucial objectives which both countries share,” he told mediapersons. Mr Straw said he had asked Mr Natwar Singh to pass on the British government’s congratulations to the Indian people and authorities for staging recently such a “successful, thrilling and lively” democratic contest, the largest election in the world. The British minister described his talks with Mr Natwar Singh as “friendly and productive”, covering a range of bilateral, regional and international issues.
— PTI |
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India pledges support to Palestinian cause Dubai, June 17 During a meeting with Jordanian Prince Faisal in Amman, Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed said at the new Indian Government would give a fresh impetus to its ties with Arab countries and continue supporting the Palestinians’ cause. Ahamed handed over to Prince Faisal an invitation from President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam to King Abdullah II to visit India at an early date. The discussions also covered regional issues, particularly developments in Iraq, the Palestinian cause, the Arab world and Islamic countries. Ahamed met Mohammad Halaiqa, Deputy Prime Minister and Industry and Trade Minister, in his capacity as the Acting Prime Minister of Jordan. In his talks with Halaiqa, Ahamed emphatically said India’s relations with Israel were bilateral in nature.
— PTI |
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Indian charged with fraud Washington, June 17 According to the civil fraud charges filed against him yesterday, Goyal engaged in a fraudulent scheme to overstate California-based Santa Clara’s revenue and earnings in violation of the federal securities laws.
— PTI |
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Zeta-Jones’ stalker charged Los Angeles, June 17 The suspect, Dawnette Knight, was arrested at her Beverly Hills apartment after a four-month investigation,” the department said.
— Reuters |
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5 Yemenis held in Kabul Sana’a, June 17 The “26 September” weekly newspaper said the Yemeni Embassy in Islamabad had received confirmation from the Red Cross that one of the detainees was prominent businessman Abdul-Salam al-Hila. Al-Hila is also a leading member of the ruling GPC party in Yemen.
— DPA |
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Beijing, June 17