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Kashmir issue should be resolved bilaterally: Gujral
5 churches bombed across Baghdad
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Prophet Mohammed’s movie set for release in USA
Five new members elected to UN council
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Sacked EU whistleblower vows to fight on
Anti-war protest in London
France calls for halt to Iran uranium enrichment
7 killed in Afghan blasts
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Kashmir issue should be resolved bilaterally: Gujral
Islamabad, October 16 “The two governments should settle the issue according to the wishes of their respective nations through peaceful dialogues,” Mr Gujral, currently on a visit to Lahore to chair the meetings of South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR), said in an interview to local newspaper ‘Daily Times’. Asked if the people of Kashmir should be involved in the talks, he said, “Kashmiris are part of the Indian nation and they do not think different from the rest of the nation.” About the US interest in peace between the two neighbours, he said Pakistan and India are sovereign states and they are able to resolve their problems without involving a third party. He suggested, the two governments should not involve the media in conveying messages to each other, but do so through official channels. To a question about presence of a large number of Indian troops in the Kashmir Valley and the possibility of demilitarisation, he said, “I pose a couple of questions in reply. Why did India heavily militarise the Kashmir Valley? Are the Indian troops enjoying a picnic there?” Mr Gujral said people on both sides knew the reasons for the deployment of the armed forces in Kashmir, without directly referring to cross-border terrorism. He also welcomed the September 24, meeting between President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New York and said the peace process would have positive results. On Indo-Pak peace process, Mr Gujral said “I, as Foreign Minister of India, initiated the process with the Nawaz Sharif government in Pakistan in 1996, as the result of which India softened its visa policy for Pakistanis.” “I have high regards for him (Sharif) because I found him very sincere to the cause of peace between the two countries, and he deserves credit for it,” he said. Replying to a question, he said, “I cannot give any solution to the Kashmir issue because this job should be done by both governments. However, it will take time.” He said the meeting between Mr Musharraf and former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in January had also strengthened the peace process. Mr Gujral also expressed concern about increasing acts of terrorism in Pakistan and said that people everywhere know that terrorism serves nobody. He said common Indians wanted contact with Pakistanis, so it was the very first duty of the two governments to bring the two nations closer. Last night Mr Gujral also addressed a ‘Meet the Press’ programme, in Lahore Press Club, where he came down heavily on proponents of third party mediation. “Every third party has its own interests in every solution.” He also said, he has “the feeling that the recent meeting between the Indian Prime Minister and the Pakistani President in the USA has carried the process forward”. To a question, he said a huge defence budget was not in the interest of the people of the two countries who were facing poverty and backwardness. — PTI
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5 churches bombed across Baghdad
Baghdad, October 16 "There were five explosions caused by improvised bombs near to these churches," said Colonel Adnane Abdelrahmane. In an apparently coordinated strike against Iraq's tiny Christian community, the church of Saint Joseph in the west of the Iraqi capital was hit early in the morning, the spokesman said. Twenty minutes later, another blast ripped through the streets at another Saint Joseph church in Dora, southern Baghdad, where again 20 minutes later Saint Paul's church in the same area was hit. Later, the Orthodox Church in the central district of Karrada was rocked by a blast and a fifth occurred about an hour later at Saint Thomas church in Mansour to the west, according to the spokesman. "The buildings were damaged, but we do not have any information on the victims," he added. Iraq's Christian community has been heavily targeted in the unrest that has swept Iraq following last year's US-led invasion.
— AFP |
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Prophet Mohammed’s movie set for release in USA
Washington, October 16 “Mohammed: The Last Prophet,” will premiere in theatres in 37 US and Canadian cities for one week beginning November 14. Oussama Jammal, president of the film’s distributing company Fine Media Group, said on Wednesday that it was an irony that Americans would be able to watch the US-produced movie after much of the world had already seen it. It was completed just before the September 11, 2001, attacks on the USA. “The film was scheduled to be released in the USA around 2002 but (was put off) because it was just after September 11 and people were not in the mood to go to the movies,” Jammal said. The 90-minute film chronicles the early life and teachings of Prophet Mohammed and was produced for Badr International by RichCrest Animation Studios, the creators of animated classics such as “The King and I” and “The Fox and the Hound.” — AFP
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Five new members elected to UN council
THE United Nations on Friday elected five new non-permanent members to its Security Council.
Japan, Argentina, Denmark, Greece, and Tanzania will begin a two-year term on January 1, 2005, replacing Angola, Chile, Germany, Pakistan and Spain on the 15-member Security Council. UN General Assembly President Jean Ping announced the results of the secret ballot after 189 nations cast their votes. Argentina got 188 votes, Denmark 181, Greece 187, Japan 184 and Tanzania 186. Japan has joined forces with India, Germany and Brazil for permanent seats on an expanded Security Council, along with an African nation yet to be determined. The efforts have gained momentum as an independent panel prepares to deliver its report on UN reform in December. The report could include a framework for an expansion of the Security Council. The council currently has only five permanent members. The veto-bearing countries are China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States. At the United Nations headquarters in New York City, Japan’s Ambassador to the world body Koichi Haraguchi said: “It’s a big day for us, certainly. The sort of momentum in seeking reform of the council is very, very great at this moment.” “I can’t underestimate the difficulties we will have to encounter. Hopefully we will be able to produce some package which would satisfy as many countries as possible,” he added. The UN Charter itself allows for changes to the composition of the council, which is the only legally binding UN body and has primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. However, nations have not agreed on how to include Africa, the Arab world and Latin America into the permanent mix, let alone which nations will have the honour of representing the blocs on the council. The other members of the so-called “elected 10” - Algeria, Benin, Brazil, the Philippines and Romania - will remain on the council through December 31, 2005. In his address to the council on October 11, Mr Haraguchi said it needed to be expanded, both in its permanent and non-permanent categories, adding new members from both developing and developed countries. Making the case for a permanent seat for his country, Mr Haraguchi said Japan supported Brazil, Germany and India as “legitimate candidates” for the permanent membership in the Security Council. Britain and France support the four nations in the Japanese joint bid but the United States has had strained relations with Germany because of its vocal opposition to the war in Iraq. Washington has, so far, only expressed public support for Japan’s bid for a permanent seat. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reiterated India’s ambitions at the United Nations General Assembly last month. The inclusion of countries like India as permanent members would be a “first step in the process of making the United Nations a truly representative body,” he said. |
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Sacked EU whistleblower vows to fight on
TWO years after she was suspended for claiming that the EU's multi-billion-pound budget was open to large-scale fraud, its former Chief Accountant, Marta Andreasen, was fired on Wednesday in one of the last acts of the outgoing European Commission.
Ms Andreasen, who plagued Neil Kinnock, the Commission vice-president responsible for reform, was dismissed on the ground that she committed an "irredeemable breach of trust" against her employers by going public with her allegations. She immediately promised to appeal and to try to persuade the next European Commission, led by Jose Manuel Barroso, to reinstate her. The Commission said that after 28 months of suspension on full pay, Ms Andreasen leaves with full pension rights. She described the concession as meaningless since she had not served long enough to benefit. Argentinean-born Ms Andreasen, who has Spanish nationality, was recruited to the Commission as part of Mr Kinnock's job of reforming the EU's administration and tightening up accounting procedures in the wake of the resignation of the previous Commission in 1999. Mr Kinnock suspended her in May, 2002 when, after refusing to sign off the EU accounts, Ms Andreasen went public with allegations that lax accounting left the £ 62bn-a-year budget "massively open to fraud". Her list of complaints included the fact that the Commission does not have a global standard double-entry bookkeeping system, and that it lacked secure computer accounting programmes, despite complaints from the European Court of Auditors. Ms Andreasen said yesterday: "I am shocked that the Commission has allowed itself to be manipulated by a few high-ranking officials who have been the ones who managed the funds for many years and who have judged me. "I cannot agree that going to the Court of Auditors can, for a Chief Accountant, constitute going public. "I intend to continue my fight on a legal basis and to make an appeal to the Commission. I will ask the new Commission to review this decision and to reinstate me." Ms Andreasen said that if she failed to get satisfaction, she would take the issue to the European Court of Justice. Her case has been championed by British Conservative MPs, who even suggested that she run as a Euro-MP. — By arrangement with The Independent, London |
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Anti-war protest in London
London, October 16 Organisers said at least 20,000 people were expected to attend three days of speeches, workshops and debates, culminating tomorrow with an anti-war march through central London to Trafalgar Square. “We’re together in opposition to the message that there’s no alternative to free market globalisation,” said Dave Timms, a spokesman for the World Development Movement, a participating organisation. “But it’s also a forum in opposition to the war and in opposition to racism.” The US election is a central focus of many of the activists.
— AP |
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France calls for halt to Iran uranium enrichment
Paris, October 16 “Time is of the essence. France will continue to work with its partners and the Iranian authorities... towards the complete suspension by Iran of its enrichment and reprocessing activities,” the ministry said in a press statement. A November 25 deadline for Iran to comply with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) demands to suspend uranium enrichment work is looming, with the possibility that Iran may be referred to the UN Security Council and face sanctions if it misses the deadline. Britain, France and Germany told the United States yesterday at a G8 meeting in Washington that they would offer Iran incentives to try to persuade it to halt uranium enrichment activities which they fear are linked to a plan to build nuclear weapons. The Europeans hope the inducements will satisfy the US, which backs a tougher line against Iran. However, Iran has since said it will reject any European proposal for a complete cessation of its work on the nuclear fuel cycle. It has said, however, that it would be willing to consider further “confidence-building” measures and extending a suspension of uranium enrichment. — AFP
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Kabul, October 16 "We had five casualties, two killed and three injured in action," US military spokesman Scott Nelson said, adding the troops were all US nationals. They had been on a routine patrol on Thursday in the Deh Rawood district in the south of the province when the mine was detonated as they passed by, he said. In another incident, a remote-controlled bomb killed five persons in the east of the violence-plagued country, an Afghan official said. The five, including a policeman, were killed in eastern Kunar province late Friday after the bomb exploded near a truck supplying food to US bases. — AFP
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