Sunday, August 16, 1998
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W O R L D | Sunday, August 16, 1998 |
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Indian Independence Day
celebrated |
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 Chinese President Jiang Zemin looks at flood waters in Wuhan, Hubei province, on Friday. More than 2,000 people have been killed in the worst floods in 44 years. — AP/PTI MQM minister quits LONDON, Aug 15 — The lone MQM minister in Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Cabinet quit today under orders of party supremo Altaf Hussain over the government’s failure to check killings of party workers in Karachi. |
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UN arms inspectors'
letters: Security Council |
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Indian Independence Day celebrated abroad UNDATED, (UNI and PTI): Unfurling of the national Tricolour, rendition of patriotic songs, music and dance marked celebrations of the 51st anniversary of India’s Independence by the Indian community at its embassies in various countries. At a well attended function of over 300 Indians in Tokyo, Indian Ambassador to Japan Siddharth Singh unfurled the national Tricolour. In his address, Mr Singh recalled the broadening relations between India and Japan and expressed hope that bilateral dialogue between the two would be resumed soon. A report from Sydney said Consul-General Vijay Kumar unfurled the national flag. A reception was hosted by the Consul-General which was attended by leading politicians, including Dr Andrew Refshauge, Deputy Premier and Members of Parliament of New South Wales. In Hong Kong, Mr Tung Chee-Hwa, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, was the chief guest at the national day reception hosted by Consul-General Mrs Veena Sikri. BEIJING: India on Saturday stressed that it sought friendly and good-neighbourly relations with China. India remains committed to the process of dialogue to resolve the outstanding differences between the two neighbours, Indian Ambassador to China Vijay K. Nambiar said addressing the Indian community on the occasion of Independence Day here. Earlier, the Ambassador unfurled the national Tricolour at a function organised at the embassy premises. DUBAI: The nearly 3 million Indian expatriates in the Gulf on Saturday celebrated their nation’s Independence Day with the hoisting of national flag, singing of national anthem and patriotic songs and a host of cultural programmes by students. A large cross section of the 1 million Indian community in the UAE witnessed the hoisting of the Tricolour at the residence of the Indian Ambassador to the UAE M.P. Menon at Abu Dhabi. TORONTO: Canadian opposition leader Preston Manning on Saturday called upon the government to reconsider its decision to impose economic sanctions against India for its nuclear tests. “My party is calling for an end to the sanctions imposed on India and another country. There are better methods to resolve differences,” Manning said, in a message on the eve of the 51st anniversary of India’s Independence. Speaking at the function, Indian High Commissioner Rajnikanta Verma, said: “India is committed to democracy and secularism at home, and to building bridges of friendship with other countries, especially, with neighbours.” JOHANNESBURG: Two prominent South African black leaders have praised India as a pillar of strength of the developing world at a time when democracy is collapsing in many other countries. In addition to being a beacon in the developing world, India also demonstrated its strength in political statecraft by maintaining its post-Independence democratic system, according to Dr Ben Ngubane, premier of the Kwazulu-Natal province. Dr Ngubane was addressing the concluding ceremony of India’s 50th Independence celebrations at the Durban City Hall on Thursday. “Another strength in
India”, he said, “is an age-old tradition of
acceptance to cultural pluralism. It has always struck me
that Indians have developed a great tolerance of
religious and language diversity, under the unifying
umbrella of a more general sense of common
nation-hood”. |
US Embassy blasts: Pak ‘holding’ suspect LONDON, Aug 15 (Reuters) — The Pakistani secret service is holding a suspect in connection with US Embassy bombings in East Africa and is hunting for two others, Britain’s Glasgow Herald newspaper reported today. The newspaper quoted unidentified Pakistani intelligence sources as saying that Mohammad Sadiq, 32, was detained at Karachi International Airport when he arrived on a Pakistani international airways flight from Kenya on August 7, the day bombs wrecked the embassies in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam. Sadiq was held when he presented a false passport at Customs, the newspaper said. “We have one man in custody and under intensive questioning. We believe another culprit is in hiding on Pakistani territory and is being sought. The third man is probably in Afghanistan,” a Pakistan intelligence source was quoted as saying. All three suspects were en route to Afghanistan, having flown out of Kenya before the bombs went off. One suspect, an alleged bomb-maker, was believed to have left Kenya on August 4, three days before the explosions occurred and was probably now in Afghanistan, the Glasgow Herald reported. The newspaper said the destination of Afghanistan appeared to confirm suspicions that “Saudi dissident millionaire Osama Bin Laden, the sponsor of a number of the most extreme Islamic renegade organisations, was behind the attacks”. Bin Laden was currently
believed to be in hiding in the high mountains of the
Afghanistan region. |
MQM minister quits over killings LONDON, Aug 15 (PTI) — The lone MQM minister in Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Cabinet quit today under orders of party supremo Altaf Hussain over the government’s failure to check killings of party workers in strife-torn Karachi. The MQM decided to snap ties with Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League last night after several ultimatums to the government to crack down hard on rival factions it blames for killing its cadres or part ways. The MQM, which enjoys a high level of support among Urdu-speaking migrants from India in the port town, said in a press note that Hussain had informed Sharif of his decision and would submit his resignation after his return to Pakistan. Hussain is currently in London for consultations with the exiled MQM supremo. Although the Sharif government, which enjoys a whopping two-thirds majority in Parliament, is unlikely to be affected by the MQM’s move, the Sindh government headed by Liaqat Jatoi of the PML will be reduced to a minority. Analysts, however, said it might make an increasingly vulnerable Sharif susceptible to pressures from the all-powerful army and intelligence agencies. The decision to snap ties with the PML was taken after marathon two-day deliberations of its central coordination committee in Karachi and London recently. An MQM spokesman said the
decision came in the wake of massacre of 10 party workers
in Karachi on Tuesday by “rival Haqiqi terrorists
and state agencies”, no-implementation of a
long-standing demand for abolition of no-go areas, and a
continuous wave of murders of supporters. |
Queen “was worried”
more about LOS ANGELES, Aug 15 (Reuters) — Queen Elizabeth was more concerned about retrieving any Royal jewels Princess Diana might had with her on the day she died than consoling her family, according to a new book released on Wednesday that paints a scathing portrait of the British Monarch. “The Queen is worried about the jewellery. We must find the jewellery quickly. The Queen wants to know, “where are the jewels?” British Consul-General Keith Moss blurted to a shocked nurse at the Paris hospital where Diana’s body lay, according to the book — “The Day Diana died” — by US journalist Christopher Andersen. The book, based on months of interviews with hospital personnel, Buckingham Palace staff and “sources in high places”, says the diplomat was sent by the British Embassy to the hospital where Diana died after an August 31, 1997, car crash to find any Royal jewels she might have had. None were found because her possessions, including her clothing, had been shipped to Britain by Harrods’ store owner Mohammed Al-Fayed, the father of the man who wanted to marry her but instead died with her, film producer Dodi Fayed. “The Day Diana died” also reveals that the elegant Princess’ body had to be clothed in a borrowed black dress for her last trip to Britain because of Al-Fayed’s hasty action. The author, whose previous book on Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, “Jackie after Jack”, was an international bestseller, said that when Prince Charles was told at the Royal estate in Balmoral, Scotland, that his ex-wife was dead, he “uttered a cry of pain that was spontaneous and came from the heart before breaking down in uncontrollable sobs.” But Mr Andersen said Queen Elizabeth “betrayed an astonishing lack of emotion” — even for the notoriously reserved Monarch. The Queen refused to let Charles wake up his sons and tell them that their mother was dead, he wrote. And when Charles told her he planned to fly to Paris to retrieve the body, she told the heir to her throne: “It would be inappropriate for him to be at RAF Northolt (air base) to meet the plane, much less fly to Paris to claim her body.” But Mr Andersen said Charles stood firm and with the backing of the country’s new Prime Minister Tony Blair argued there would be a public backlash if no Royal family member went. That was not the end of
the battle royal that erupted between the Queen and her
son, Mr Andersen said. The Queen forced Princes William
and Harry to attend church services at Balmoral where
their mother’s name was never mentioned rather than
go to London where hundreds of thousands of people were
openly mourning her death in the streets. |
UN arms inspectors' letters: Security Council to respond on Monday UNITED NATIONS, Aug 15 (Reuters) — The Security Council will consider on Monday how to reply to UN arms inspection chiefs, who say Iraq’s refusal to cooperate means they cannot be sure it is complying with their requirements, council members said. Letters were sent to the council this week by Mr Richard Butler, head of the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM), and Mohamed El-Baradei, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). UNSCOM is charged with scrapping Iraq’s chemical, biological and ballistic missile systems and the IAEA monitors the country’s nuclear programmes. Both arms chiefs formally notified the council that, because of Baghdad’s decision this month to stop cooperating with them, they could not provide the same level of assurance as before that Iraq was not trying to rebuild banned weapons. Mr Butler specifically asked for guidance from the council. One council source said it was likely the council would instruct UNSCOM and IAEA chiefs to go ahead with inspections but would implicitly leave it to them to decide when and where to send out teams. Iraq announced on August 5 it would no longer cooperate with UNSCOM or the Vienna-based IAEA until UNSCOM was restructured to reduce alleged American influence and its headquarters moved from New York to Geneva or Vienna. Iraq has repeatedly accused UNSCOM of being influenced by Washington to prolong the disarmament process, which must be completed before the Security Council can lift sanctions imposed on Iraq since its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. How the council decides to
react to the two letters is expected to be influenced by
what it hears from Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s
special representative in Iraq, Indian diplomat Prakash
Shah. |
Russia plans new nuclear plant MOSCOW, Aug 15 (AFP) — Russia plans to build by 2010 a new nuclear power plant near Saint Petersburg and aims to recycle submarine reactors left from the Soviet era, Itar-Tass news agency reported. The announcement was made during a visit to the Sosnovy Bor power station yesterday in the Saint Petersburg region, by Russia’s Nuclear Energy Minister Yevgeny Adamov and Leader of the Lower House of Parliament Gennady Seleznev. The new billion-dollar plant would be partly financed by private banks, marking a first for Russia, noted director of the Sosnovy Bor power station Viacheslav Vassilenko. He said the new plant would "lay down the bases for nuclear power in the 21st century." Russia also intends to recycle its remaining Soviet-era submarine reactors by 2010, which in their current condition posed a threat to the environment, Adamov said during his visit. They would first be
dismantled and stored for safety. The nuclear fuel would
then be recycled for use in Russian plants, including
Sosnovy Bor. |
Computer chips sold ‘illegally’ to India WASHINGTON, Aug 15 (AFP) — The US Commerce Department is looking into reports that a California company illegally sold advanced microprocessor chips to India for possible use in supercomputers involved in nuclear tests, the Knight Rider news wire reported today. According to the report, the California-based Themis Computer Company sold the chips to India’s Advanced Numerical Research and Analysis Group (ANURAG), affiliated with India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation. The high-speed chips were
for use in the research site’s supercomputers,
Knight Rider reported, quoting sources familiar with the
sales. |
Thousands pay homage to Mujib TUNGIPARA (Bangladesh), Aug 15 (PTI) — Thousands of tearful mourners today streamed to the grave of the country’s founding father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, at this sleepy village as Bangladesh today paid homage to the slain independence leader, marking the 23rd anniversary of his death. The Prime Minister, Ms
Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who
flew to the village in a military helicopter and placed
wreaths at the ‘mazar’ (grave) of
‘Bangabandhu’ (friend of Bengal as Mujib is
revered in Bangladesh, burst into tears as the military
gave a guard of honour and played the Last Post at the
grave. |
| Global monitor UK ratifies NATO
enlargement Pro-democracy
activists Prisoners pardoned 11 civilians
killed New political
party Thumb implant Microbes in oceans Japanese defeat |
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