Thursday, August 6, 1998
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W O R L D | Thursday, August 6, 1998 |
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UK media blames Pak for
terrorism US
House panel chief to visit Pokhran |
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 CHICAGO: Gina Balice, a trade checker, holds her head as the Dow Jones closes at the Chicago Board of Trade on Tuesday, in Chicago. The Dow Jones industrial average plummeted 299.43 points to 8,487.31 points for the markets third biggest point loss in a single day. —AP/PTI |
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India
to buy spares for Howitzers |
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UK media blames it on Pak LONDON, Aug 5 (PTI) — Pakistan has been held responsible in the British media for provoking the recent firing along the Line of Actual Control with India and sponsoring terrorism in Kashmir. It was a ploy by the Pakistani establishment to seek to internationalise the Kashmir issue to win support for its demand for foreign mediation on the issue, media reports said. The Times said the attacks by Kashmiri terrorists on innocent Hindus recently marked a “new low” in the tactics of the militants who had now lost most of their grassroot support and had taken a battering from the Indian security forces. “The intensity of the Indian Army pressure in Kashmir has made it impossible for the militants to attack anything but soft targets,” it said and accused Pakistan of intensifying rhetoric against India, thus destroying any hope of the two countries resuming negotiations in the near future. There was no doubt that Islamabad does sponsor terrorism in Kashmir, the paper said, adding there was hardly any indigenous militant activity left in Jammu and Kashmir. Without Pakistan’s involvement “there doubtless would be peace in the state,” the paper said. Media reports also said there was concern all over Europe on “raging fierce artillery duels between the armies of the two countries all along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir for the past six days”. Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Tony Blair is likely to visit India and Pakistan with the Kashmir dispute possibly on the agenda. The Independent reported today quoting the Foreign Office here. “The visit should happen as soon as politically possible”, the paper quoted British Foreign Office officials as saying. It said Mr Blair is known to be wanting to reduce tension between the two nations. “Although it is unclear whether the visit would involve any diplomatic initiative”. Quoting diplomatic sources the paper said, “Britain would almost certainly be the first choice for the Pakistanis for any mediation on Kashmir”. The sources said this was because the Pakistanis, having cultivated good support in the ruling Labour Party, had been successful in putting across to Britain that the “mess over Kashmir was its creation”. The paper claimed British Foreign Office had approached the High Commissions of both India and Pakistan here asking for a suitable time for the visit. “Diplomats have advised the Prime Minister’s staff that the earliest possible time for the visit would be around new year,” The Independent said. However, Indian High
Commission officials said they had no knowledge of any
such proposed visit. “There has been no contacts or
talks on any such visit with us,” a senior High
Commission official said. |
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US House panel chief to visit Pokhran WASHINGTON, Aug 5 (PTI) — Chairman of the US Senate Intelligence Committee Richard Shelby, accompanied by its member Tim Hutchinson, will visit the Pokhran nuclear tests site during their upcoming trip to India and Pakistan. During their two-day visit to India, the Republican Senators, besides going to the tests site, are also expected to have talks with several leaders, including Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Home Minister L.K. Advani and Defence Minister George Fernandes, congressional sources said yesterday. The sources said their visit was arranged following closed-door hearings over the US intelligence failure in detecting the preparation for the Pokhran tests. The two will be the first American Senators to visit Pokhran after the May nuclear tests. Shelby had blamed American intelligence of failing to get advance information about India’s nuclear tests and did not join the official US chorus of “duplicity” and “deception” by India over the explosions. Shelby, in his position as
the Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman, was assured
by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the
hearings that more “human intelligence” —
or “humints” — would be appointed on the
ground following the US intelligence failure in India. |
India to buy spares for Howitzers LONDON, Aug 5 (AP) — India is finalising the purchase of much-needed spare parts for 140 Howitzer guns bought from the Swedish weapons company, Bofors AB, in a deal that continues to rock Indian politics, Jane’s Defence Weekly has reported. Official sources in India were quoted by the respected military magazine as saying that military and Ministry of Defence officials were completing negotiations with two Bofors subsidiaries, Celsiustech in Sweden and AB Celsius in Austria, for spares for the 155 mm towed Howitzers. For nearly 10 years, Jane’s Defence Weakly said yesterday, all dealings with Bofors and its subsidiaries were banned because of a corruption scandal. The Indian Government enacted an embargo against Bofors after it was revealed that the Swedish company allegedly paid kickback of $ 50 million to secure the 1986 Howitzer deal with India. Since the early 1990s, Jane’s said, the Howitzer guns had increasingly been suffering from a shortage of spare parts which had led to widespread cannibalisation. The Howitzers had undergone over 130 modifications and between 100 and 120 were inoperative, it said. Earlier attempts by the Army to persuade successive Indian governments to import spares for the Howitzers failed, the magazine said. “However, the situation had now become so acute that the only options were either to buy a new weapon system for which there was no money or to buy the spares from a Bofors subsidiary,” it said. Jane’s also reported
that Indian defence officials had visited Britain and
Israel to buy specialised equipment for the
country’s special forces, including submachine guns,
sniper rifles, night vision devices and crossbows. The
equipment was mainly for use against Kashmiri militants
fighting for an Islamic homeland, it said. |
Over 200 killed in Colombia clashes BOGOTA, Aug 5 (Agencies) — At least 200 people — soldiers, police, rebels and civilians — have been killed in the last 24 hours in clashes between the Army and Leftist rebels, a top police official said. Some 80 soldiers and civilians and 120 guerrillas were killed in 42 battles between the insurgents and government troops, General Alfredo Salgado said after a meeting with outgoing President Ernesto Samper and Colombia’s defence and interior ministers. The new toll was sharply higher than previous estimates of some 35 people killed in a wave of violence just before Colombia’s new President takes office. The guerrillas unleashed a coordinated wave of attacks overnight on Monday and fighting continued to rage in eastern Colombia throughout yesterday in the worst wave of politically motivated violence in many months. Insurgents from Latin America’s oldest and largest guerrilla forces were battling police and army close to a rebel stronghold in the foothills of the Andes mountains in eastern Meta province well after nightfall last night, officials said. Their fellow combatants spent most of the day pounding a US-backed anti-narcotics base with rockets and mortar bombs in southeast Guaviare province. Overnight on Monday, guerrilla forces wrecked oil installations, raided the country’s main port city and set off a series of car bombs. The fiercest fighting was in the cities of Medellin, Cucuta, and in the pacific coast city of Buenaventura, where rebels used three car bombs in attack on army barracks and two police stations, the minister said. Conservative
President-elect Andres Pastrana — who takes office
on Friday — vowed to continue his efforts to bring
peace to the South American nation. |
Russia, Uzbekistan for countering Taliban MOSCOW, Aug 5 (PTI) — With the Pakistan backed Taliban forces advancing towards the CIS borders, Russia and Uzbekistan have declared their readiness to invoke the provisions of the 1992 Tashkent Collective Security pact. The decision was taken after urgent consultations between Russian first Deputy Defence Minister and Chief of General Staff Gen Anatoly Kvashnin and first Deputy Foreign Minister Boris Postukhov and Defence and Foreign Ministers of Uzbekistan, Gen Hikmatulla Tursunov and Abdulaiz Kamilov respectively, in Tashkent yesterday, Ria-Novosti reported. "The (two) sides exchanged opinions on the current situation in Afghanistan which directly threatens national interests and security of Russia and central Asian CIS member states. "The sides reserve the right to make all moves needed for strengthening security of their external borders in compliance with the collective security agreement signed on May 15, 1992", a joint statement said expressing deep concern at the "escalation of bloodshed" in Afghanistan. Reiterating their mutual interest in enduring peace and stability in the Central Asian region, the two countries also accused the "foreign-backed Taliban movement" of attempting to resolve the Afghan crisis with the help of arms. Demanding an immediate end to military operations of Taliban in the north of Afghanistan, Moscow and Tashkent called for putting an end to "outside" interference in the Afghan affairs. The two countries expressed their willingness to depute their envoys for direct talks with all parties involved, including the Taliban, to broker a peace deal to end the two-decade-old civil war in the mountainous country. Quoting Defence sources, the Russian press has said Pakistan’s regular army officers and soldiers are directly involved in the Taliban operations in the north of Afghanistan against the Rabbani-Masood-Dostum alliance. "Handwriting of the Pakistani Defence Staffers is clearly visible" in the Taliban thrust to cut off General Abdul Rashid Dostum’s supply lines through the Khairaton river port bordering Uzbekistan, leading business daily "Kommersant" said. "The anti-Taliban
northern alliance was never so close to its total and
final defeat," the daily quoted sources in Russian
Defence headquarters as saying. |
Hun Sen’s party emerges winner PHNOM PENH, Aug 5 (AP) — Strongman Hun Sen’s ruling party emerged the winner today when long-delayed results from last week’s parliamentary election in Cambodia were announced. The Cambodian People’s Party won 41.4 per cent of the popular vote, with 2,030,802 votes from 4,902,488 valid ballots cast, according to figures released by the National Election Committee. Prince Norodom Ranariddh’s Funcinpec Party, the top opposition group, took 1,554,374 votes, or 31.7 per cent, and its ally, the Sam Rainsy Party, 699,653 votes, or 14.3 per cent. The remainder of the votes were divided among 36 smaller parties, none of which was able to garner enough support for a seat in Parliament. The results appeared to be enough to give the Cambodian People’s Party a majority in the new National Assembly, although an official breakdown of seats was not announced. The victory of Mr Hun Sen’s party in the July 26 poll came as no surprise, since partial results released over the past week had him well ahead of his challengers. But Funcinpec and the Sam Rainsy Party have made repeated allegations that the counting was plagued by irregularities. The two parties have called on the Election Committee to recount ballots in areas where they suspect irregularities and have threatened to boycott the new parliamentary session if their concerns were not met. Without the opposition’s attendance, the Assembly is unlikely to have present the two-thirds of its 122 members needed to conduct any major business. Officials were painstakingly recounting votes in five communes today as party activists looked on. It was not clear how many of Cambodia’s 1,700 communes would be counted again, but a handful of opposition politicians said today they wanted a total recount. They have the right to request the recount of all ballots, but for this we need a lot of time, money and people,’’ said committee spokesperson Samraing Kamsan, adding that he doubted the request would get very far. Late yesterday, it became known that committee vice-chairman Kassie Neou had asked to resign as head of the subcommittee handling recounts. The committee, widely seen as being stacked in favour of Hun Sen’s ruling party, has come under mounting criticism for taking a passive approach to complaints of irregularities. Election officials
abruptly cancelled their daily news briefing today,
delaying the announcement of election results by several
hours. |
Sharif, kin ‘evaded’ 14,000 cr in taxes ISLAMABAD, Aug 5 (UNI) — the Opposition Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chief Benazir Bhutto has said that present Premier Nawaz Sharif and his associates would have been behind bars had she, as Prime Minister, set up special courts to try complaints of corruption. Ms Bhutto, who is facing charges of corruption, says she did not set up special courts because “we believe in regular courts and natural justice”. Talking to reporters in Lahore recently, she alleged that Mr Sharif and his family were defaulters to the tune of Rs 14,000 crore, adding “his (Sharif’s) family made 40 factories out of a single foundry but did not pay taxes”. Newspapers in Pakistan are filled with reports charging the Sharif family and its confidants with corrupt practices. Amid such reports, Ms Bhutto hinted that the army may have to intervene. Ms Bhutto said she is
waiting for the right opportunity to start a mass
movement against the Sharif government. While the PPP is
in no hurry to get rid of the Nawaz government, the
Jammat-i-Islami has decided to start an agitation for
exposing the corruption of the Sharif family. It will
organise a public meeting on Sunday at Raiwind near the
palatial residential complex of the Sharif family. |
17,000 attend world Ahmadiyya meeting LONDON, Aug 5 (PTI) — Over 17,000 delegates from all over the globe attended the three-day World Ahmadiyya Conference which concluded here last night with an affirmation by its supreme leader Mirza Tahir Ahmad that despite restrictions sought to be imposed by some nations, the ranks of Ahmadiyyat were swelling. The Ahmadiyya leader told his followers that over five million people had joined Ahmadiyyat during the past one year and on the occasion held a special initiation ceremony. He commented on the pioneering work done by the community in homoeopathy and also announced the setting up of free homoeopathic service throughout the world, adding that 31 big hospitals were being started by the Ahmadiyya Trust in 10 African countries. Mirza Tahir Ahmad said Ahmadiyyas had raised thousands of pound sterling and sent tonnes of relief in the form of food, clothing and medical supplies to suffering people in countries like India, Bosnia and Sierra Leone. Thousands of delegates
from over 93 countries who attended the world conference
were accommodated at Surrey within 25 acres in huge
marquees. |
Another crisis looms large
over Iraq WHEN Mr Richard Butler last visited Baghdad in mid-June, Iraqi Ambassador to the United Nations Nizar Hamdoun issued a warning. By October or November, he told the head of the UN’s weapon inspection team, “one of two things could happen. The UN sanctions on Iraq could be lifted. But if they are not, there will be a crisis. And it will be the final crisis”. The one sure thing about these periodic showdowns between Iraq and the UN Special Commission (Unscom) is that they will recur until that final crisis is upon us. This is because President Saddam has a long-term strategy devised to end UN sanctions and, however amenable to tactical retreat when necessary, he is following it unswervingly. It has produced two major crises. One was in October last year when he expelled the UN inspectors; that was defused by Russian mediation. The other was early this year when he refused to let the inspectors enter his presidential premises; that was defused when UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan negotiated a deal that averted military action by the USA. It was obvious that both crises were coming because Baghdad itself, with rhetoric and solemn warnings, made it obvious. The only uncertainty was the timing. It has been similarly obvious for some time that a third crisis was in the making. The US administration has tended to assume, like Mr Hamdoun, that it will come in October when Mr Butler presents a key progress report to the Security Council. Others have forecast that it will come sooner. And with yesterday’s collapse of the Baghdad talks, it looks as though it has. It may not be a “final crisis”, but it should be graver than its predecessors, if only because the main actors, the USA and Iraq, have exhausted all room for compromise. “It is important”, Mr Butler said, “to note the order of magnitude of the weapons retained by Iraq: two-thirds of the operational missile force; more than half of the chemical weapons and half of the biological weapons.” Just before Mr Butler’s latest visit, Iraq insisted, yet again, that all its weapons had been destroyed and that Mr Butler knew it all too well. Under the Annan deal, it said, Iraq had suffered the humiliation of opening up presidential palaces for inspection and nothing had been found. Yet, in spite of that, “our expectations that the weapons file would be closed by October... vanished; all Iraq could look forward to was a continuation of the status quo; why should Iraq put up with all this — if the siege is to continue with no foreseeable end?” It would not put up with it much longer. For the past few months, it has been hammering that point almost daily. It was ready to wait, but not beyond the end of this, the eighth year of sanctions. If there was no progress, the Security Council was told in a letter on May 1 Iraq would resort to “an alternative strategy”. The strategy was a “private matter’’,but it would certainly reflect Iraq’s “will power”, and lead to “dire consequences. Whatever the strategy is,
it will reflect President Saddam’s confidence that
he will get the better of the US again. — The
Guardian, London |
| Global monitor Lanka local poll put off Women judges 2 settlers shot Korea flood toll
95 Death penalty ‘Reds were
better’ Diana’s car Titanic sinking |
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