Wednesday, August 26, 1998
today's calendar
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W O R L D | Wednesday, August 26, 1998 |
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US clearance for IMF loan
to Pak Pak
conditions to give up N-arms |
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 DHAKA : A boy, carrying his monkeys, wades through flood water on the outskirts of Dhaka, in Bangladesh, on Tuesday. The seven weeks flood has already claimed 550 lives and affected 20 million people. — AP/PTI |
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Laden
assures Taliban leader Omar refuses USA's talks offer ISLAMABAD, Aug 25 — The controversial Saudi dissident, Osama bin Laden, has assured the Taliban authorities that he will restrain himself and respect the Taliban’s authority. |
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USA,
UK agree on trial venue |
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US clearance for IMF loan to Pak LONDON, Aug 25 (PTI) — The USA tonight agreed to allow early clearance of pending IMF loan and other multilateral and bilateral aid to Pakistan after marathon negotiations between top-level officials of the two countries here. A joint statement issued after crucial fourth round of negotiations on nuclear non proliferation, US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott and Pakistan Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmed hinted that the two sides were near reaching an agreement on Pakistan’s adherence to CTBT. They said that henceforth "discussions would be continued at experts level." Dubbing today’s meeting as "serious, substantive and constructive", the statement said experts from both the countries will meet in Islamabad next week. "The Kashmir issue was discussed and the two sides agreed for the need for early resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan," the statement said. The joint statement said the USA expressed support for an early agreement between Pakistan and the IMF and the Paris Club to alleviate Islamabad’s economic difficulties. With this, the way has been paved for clearance of an ambitious $ 3 billion IMF bailout package for Pakistan which would save Islamabad from defaulting on its $ 30 billion US debt. It would also clear the way for rescue packages from Paris Club, which refers to aid from other agencies like the Asian Development Bank and bilateral aid from western nations. The IMF and the Paris Club had put their aid packages on hold after the USA imposed economic sanctions on Pakistan following testing of nuclear devices. Though the agenda for the talks was on nuclear non-proliferation, the two sides agreed to include the recent clouding in bilateral relationship after the Americans launched cruise missiles at terrorist camps near Pakistan-Afghan border. The joint statement said "both sides attached importance to continued strong bilateral ties in the interest of peace and security in the region and their desire for a broad and constructive relationship with each other." Besides Mr Talbott, the
American side was represented by Assistant Secretary of
State Karl Inderfurth and senior director at National
Security Council (NSC) Bruce Reidel. |
Pak conditions to give up N-arms WASHINGTON, Aug 25 (PTI) — Pakistan has demanded the settlement of the Kashmir issue to its satisfaction and US aid to bring its armed forces on a par with India’s as the price for Islamabad giving up its nuclear weapons and right to its first-use against India. Describing as “childish” the US call to India and Pakistan to settle their differences bilaterally, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the USA Riaz Khokhar set these conditions in an interview to the Defence News. “We don’t trust the Indians. We don’t care what they tell the United States. That is why the United States has to promote true confidence-building measures while helping us to rehabilitate our economy and address the conventional military imbalance in the region,” Mr Khokhar said on the eve of the US-Pak talks in London. A State Department official told the US weekly that Washington was ready to assist in mediating a solution to Kashmir and other outstanding issues “as long as both sides want us to (do)”. Pakistani Government officials, said the weekly, were expected to reject US-led attempts to force the newly unleashed Asian nuclear genie back into its proverbial bottle in meetings with US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott. Instead, it said, “Islamabad will push for resumed US military assistance, operational training, arms sales and direct active US involvement in mediating disputes over Kashmir.” “Pakistani officials,” the weekly reported, “say Washington’s emphasis on non-proliferation is short-sighted because it fails to address the conventional military imbalance and ongoing dispute over Kashmir, which they say are underlying problems in the region.” Mr Khokhar told the paper: “The United States has to accept the fact that we have a minimal nuclear deterrent that we are not about to give up and that we will use if we feel our existence is threatened. “Now we need to rationalise it. We need to stabilise it. We need to be taught how to deal with these new dangerous toys. That is where training and assistance comes into play. That is why we want to consider US-led confidence-building measures.” The USA calls for both sides to resolve their differences, he said, are “a childish approach. It does not solve the problem. The nuclear weapons are there. The conventional imbalance is there.” India and Pakistan, Mr Khokhar said, would be unable to resolve their differences, especially over Kashmir, without an active intermediary. He said, “We have been asking the United States to focus on the problem. Otherwise, it is like putting two scorpions in a bottle. You don’t get anywhere.” ISLAMABAD: Pakistan today warned of a "conflict of serious proportion’’ if the Kashmir issue was not resolved immediately and accused India of being averse to discussing it on a priority basis at bilateral talks. Newly-appointed Pakistani Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz, told the Senate the real issue in South Asia is not proliferation but the need to find a "peaceful and just solution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute’’. "A genuine
contribution to peace and security can only be made by
constructive engagement in search for a permanent
solution of this problem,’’ he said in a policy
statement in the House. |
Laden assures Taliban leader ISLAMABAD, Aug 25 (PTI, API) — The controversial Saudi dissident, Osama bin Laden, has assured the Taliban authorities that he will restrain himself and respect the Taliban’s authority. Bin Laden’s assurance to the Taliban authorities came following the "displeasure" shown by the supreme spiritual leader of the Taliban, Mullah Mohammed Omar, over his recent statement whereby he threatened to avenge US missile attacks on his bases inside Afghanistan, media reports said here. A senior Taliban spokesman was quoted by the English daily, The News, that bin Laden had sent his envoy to Mullah Omar to "reassure that he respected the latter’s authority and had no intention of running a parallel government in Afghanistan". Mullah Omar, according to media reports, had earlier said "there cannot be two different parallel emirates (governments) in Afghanistan". He also said he had sent a special emissary to bin Laden and had told him to leave it to the Islamic emirates of Afghanistan to take the required measures for giving an appropriate answer to the US attacks on its soil. In the wake of the US missile attacks on the alleged terrorist training bases inside Afghanistan on August 20, bin Laden had promised strong retaliation while declaring war against the USA. NEW YORK: Published reports here on Tuesday said bin Laden directed his followers at least twice to kill President Bill Clinton, but neither attempt was ever made. The first assassination attempt was to take place when Mr Clinton visited The Philippines to begin a trip to Asia on November 12, 1994, but it was abandoned due to heavy security, Newsday reported, citing counter-terrorism and intelligence sources. Ramzi Yousef, later convicted in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, was to have been the hit man, the New York Post reported. A second attempt was planned for Pakistan in February, when Mr Clinton had scheduled but later cancelled, a visit. PESHAWAR (DPA): Afghanistan leader Mulla Mohammad Omar rejected an offer of talks by the USA on its missile attacks on suspected terrorist bases in Afghanistan, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) agency said on Tuesday. “What remains to talk about? The (USA) rockets destroyed everything,” the leader of the Islamic Taliban Movement said on the telephone from his Kandhar headquarters in southern Afghanistan. Mr Omar said the USA should offer compensation and tender an apology, if it failed to prove its charge that the sites it hit in Sudan and Afghanistan were related to Osama bin Laden. Mr Omar, however, took offence to the threats held out by Osama to avenge the US missile attack, saying he was given refuge on the specific undertaking that he would not use Afghan soil for any operations abroad. But in his latest interview to AIP, Mr Omar reiterated his demand that the USA should withdraw its troops from the Gulf states. Mr Omar said if the USA wanted to restore its dignity in the world, it must remove President Bill Clinton from office. “I do not know what
punishment American law provides (for sex outside
marriage). In Islam such a person would be stoned to
death,” the Taliban chief said when asked to comment
on Mr Clinton’s admission of “inappropriate
relations” with Monica Lewinsky. |
Iraq helped Sudan make nerve gas? WASHINGTON, Aug 25 (AFP) — Iraq was helping the chemical factory in Sudan that was destroyed by US missiles to produce components of the nerve agent VX, The New York Times said today. Unidentified US government and intelligence officials cited some soil samples taken months ago outside the facility in Khartoum which contained traces of a rare precursor chemical for VX, which Iraq specialises in producing, the daily said. “You don’t obtain this chemical because you’re making ballpoint pens or whatever,” an administration official told the daily. “If you’re making this, you’re making VX.” The chemical, called ethyl methylphosphonothionate acid or Empta, is described as an odourless, colourless liquid that can kill within minutes on contact with the skin or when inhaled. The sources added there was evidence that senior Iraqi scientists had assisted the Sudanese in making the nerve agent at the bombed Al-Shifaa pharmaceutical complex and at another plant a few kilometers away. The head of Iraq’s chemical weapons programme, Mr Emad Al-Ani had close ties with senior Sudanese officials at the bombed factory, the daily said quoting a senior intelligence official. The United Nations his confirmed that the Al-Shifaa factory had a $ 200,000 a UN-approved contract to deliver humanitarian supplies to Iraq. AP adds: A soil sample obtained clandestinely by U.S. Intelligence led the Clinton Administration to conclude that a Sudanese plant purported to be making medicine was actually developing a key ingredient in deadly VX nerve gas, a U.S. Intelligence official said. In an echo of the controversy over the bombing of a purported baby milk factory during the Persian Gulf war, Sudanese officials have protested to the United Nations that the plant made medicine, not weapons. Under pressure to back up its claim, the Clinton Administration let U.S. intelligence officials discuss some of the evidence that led to the decision to strike. One U.S. intelligence official said the physical evidence being cited repeatedly by Clinton Administration officials was a soil sample obtained by “clandestine means” from inside the Sudan plant. The sample showed traces of a substance called Empta. “Once you have it, you’re a long way toward the production of VX,” said the intelligence official. The material apparently got into the soil immediately outside the plant either through airborne emissions or spillage from the manufacturing process. LONDON (ANI): Britain’s first Muslim MP is to go to Sudan to inspect the Khartoum factory destroyed by US missiles last week. Mr Mohammad Sarwar, Labour MP for Glasgow, has accepted an invitation from the Sudanese authorities to go there. His visit will highlight scepticism among Labour MPs on whether the factory was being used for the manufacture of chemical weapons, as the US authorities claim. The Chairman of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee, Mr Donald Anderson, said Prime Minister Tony Blair should be asked what he was told by the Americans before he gave his enthusiastic support for the missile attacks. According to the Sunday Express, a British engineer who helped to build the factory has claimed that it could not have been used for making chemical weapons. Mr Tom Carnaffin of Hexham (Northumberland) said: “I am very familiar with the factory and I do not think it is possible. The construction did not lend itself to making chemical weapons.” However, Defence Minister John Spellar said there was strong and compelling evidence that the plant was being used for chemical weapons. According to an investigative report in The Sunday Times, Osama bin Laden uses Britain as a base to finance a global network of Islamic fundamentalist groups. He is said to have channelled tens of thousands of pounds through London bank accounts. Evidence of this is said to have come from Sidi Tayyib, a former associate of Laden, now in a Saudi Arabian jail. His claims that
substantial sums were sent to London from Laden’s
accounts in Pakistan and Afghanistan are reported to have
been confirmed by western security sources. The FBI is
said to be investigating how Laden finances supporters in
the USA by routing money through London. |
USA wants cruise missile back ISLAMABAD, Aug 25 (Agencies) — The USA has regretted that one of its cruise missiles aimed at terrorist camps in Afghanistan fell near Chagai hills in Baluchistan where Pakistan had conducted nuclear tests on May 28. Sources said the US Administration had sought permission from Pakistan to allow its team of experts to visit the area where the missile had fallen to determine why and how it fell on way to its target. There is a general impression here that the USA wanted back the unexploded missile as early as possible so that Pakistan may not know the technology and the armaments on the missile. However, political leaders in Pakistan have urged the government not to return the missile to the Americans and instead hand it over to Dr Abdul Qadir Khan, Pakistani nuclear scientist. UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has lodged a protest with the Security Council alleging the cruise missiles fired by the USA on “terrorist” targets in Afghanistan violated its air space but has not asked for any action. “Such action (the violation), if condoned, acts as a precedent which can encourage other countries to pursue aggressive designs against neighbours on flimsy and unsubstantiated pretext” the protest letter bearing the signature of Islamabad’s ambassador to the UN Mr Ahmad Kamal said. The letter, dispatched last night, also mentioned that one unexploded missile was found in an uninhabited part of Baluchistan province. However, the council took little note of the letter as also the request from Sudan, with current President Danilo of Slovenia saying the members felt more time was needed for reflection on this matter. DUBAI: The 22-nation Arab league has unanimously condemned last week’s military strike by the USA on a pharmaceutical plant in Khartoum, terming it as an act of aggression against Sudan. In a resolution adopted at an emergency session in Cairo yesterday, the league urged Washington to refrain from any further actions “which may arouse public outrage” in the Arab world. “The council decided
to condemn the American attack against the pharmaceutical
factory in Khartoum as an aggression against Sudan and a
grave violation of its sovereignty and territorial
integrity”, the resolution said. |
Terrorist Nidal held WASHINGTON, Aug 25 (Reuters) — Palestinian extremist Abu Nidal, “whose reign over a terrorist network in the 1980s made him one of the world’s most dangerous men,” is being held by the authorities in Egypt, the Los Angeles Times reported in today’s editions. Quoting unnamed US officials, the Times reported that Nidal “apparently was caught after he crossed the border from Libya, where he has been headquartered for several years,” few additional details were known, the newspaper said. “Recent reports in the Arab press have suggested that Abu Nidal is ailing and might require advanced medical care unavailable in Libya,” the Times reported. Nidal is linked to “terrorist attacks in 20 countries that killed or injured almost 900 people,” the Times said. Nidal heads the Fatah Revolutionary Council, one of 12 groups which had its assets frozen by President Bill Clinton in 1995 for waging campaigns to undermine the West Asia peace process. According to the
newspaper, Egypt has denied reports about holding Abu
Nidal. It quoted US officials as saying that the Egyptian
Government was concerned about potential reaction. |
Russia heading for coalition MOSCOW, Aug 25 (PTI) — For the first time in 80 years, Russia seems to be heading for a coalition government as Acting Premier Viktor Chernomyrdin has agreed to involve major parties represented in the Lower House in formation of the new cabinet. A Kremlin spokesman said yesterday that Mr Chernomyrdin had been given a free hand in selecting his Cabinet and drafting financial and economic policies within the framework of the strategic course of developing market forces and market-oriented economy in the country. The Kremlin had agreed to sign two political documents with Parliament laying down the concept of overcoming the financial and economic crisis in the country and granting a free hand to the Prime Minister in choosing his team, Speaker Gennady Seleznyov said. The government and Parliament had also agreed to form the Cabinet on the basis of a majority in the Lower House. The concept of anti-crisis measures would be evolved by the tripartite committee on budget and taxation laws headed by Deputy Speaker and incorporating the representatives of both the Houses and the government, Mr Seleznyov said. The second political document provided for the presidential guarantees of non-interference in the working of the coalition government and the Prime Minister would have all the powers to run the Cabinet and decide its composition. Under the present constitutional framework, the President had the right to appoint and dismiss the Prime Minister and his cabinet members without consulting the Duma or the Premier. In the situation of an “acute systemic crisis”, all political forces involved in the coalition government would guarantee to back all co-ordinated decision of the government in Parliament, the Speaker said. He said Parliament would approach the President to take the initiative and propose a constitutional amendment enhancing the role of the Council of Ministers. Mr Yeltsin had so far rejected the idea of a coalition government and any attempt to change the Constitution. But Mr Chernomyrdin’s right-hand man in Dume Alexander Shokin said the coalition cabinet did not mean that the parties would send their members directly to it. “They can propose the
list of professionals. But the candidates will be picked
up by Mr Chernomyrdin himself,” Mr Shokin told state
TV RTR. |
Clinton may speak again on affair EDGARTOWN, Aug 25 (Reuters) — White House officials left the door open to the possibility that President Bill Clinton might further discuss his relationship with Ms Monica Lewinsky publicly, but said nothing specific was planned. “There are no plans specifically for him to address it, and I’m not aware of any planning to do so,” White House spokesman Barry Toiv told Reuters yesterday. Other administration officials made similar remarks, saying Mr Clinton could address the issue at some point in a forum such as a news conference or speech. But any discussion was unlikely during the next week or two, they said. Clinton adviser James Carville said on Sunday that at some point Mr Clinton might openly apologise for his relationship with Ms Lewinsky, a former White House intern. This would go further than Mr Clinton did in a televised speech last Monday in which he acknowledged misleading the public and his family about what he said was an inappropriate relationship with Ms Lewinsky. The speech angered some Republican critics of the President and even some Democratic supporters because of the lack of an explicit apology and a continued attack on special prosecutor Kenneth Starr. Mr Starr is investigating allegations that Mr Clinton illegally sought to hide his relationship with Ms Lewinsky from lawyers in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case. Asked about
Carville’s comments that Mr Clinton might apologise,
White House spokesman Mike McCurry said: “He is one
of the President’s advisers and it’s usually
pretty good advice, but the President hasn’t made
any decision of that nature that I’m aware of.” |
Move to enforce Islamic law in Pak ISLAMABAD, Aug 25 (ANI) — Pakistan’s largest religious party has announced the launching of a movement to enforce Islamic law in the country by staging public sit-ins all over the country. “To pressurise the government to enforce Sharia, our party will stage sit-ins in all major cities and towns of the country from September 1,” Jamaat-e-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed told a news conference here. Mr Ahmed said the sit-ins by his party activists and supporters from the public would also be staged in smaller towns and cities on September 10 and 11 outside the offices of the local deputy commissioners. “We appeal that from now onwards, every mosque congregation after Friday prayers stage peaceful demonstrations demanding the enforcement of Sharia,” the Jamaat leader said. There needs to be, he said, a movement against the secular elements in Pakistan who, according to him, are implementing the agenda of capitalists and exploiters. “For too long we have
been depending for solutions to our problems on those who
can do nothing and who are engrossed in catering to
self-interests only,” he regretted. |
Benazir vows to fight back KARACHI, Aug 25 (Reuters) — Ms Benazir Bhutto feels she is caught in a nightmare. The former Premier is entangled in a web of corruption cases, her passport has been confiscated, her husband is in jail, children are in Dubai and charges of human rights abuses and killings have been thrown at her. She dreams of her brothers, both dead, and it has been almost 20 years since her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was hanged. “I feel absolutely confused and caught in a nightmare,” Ms Benazir Bhutto told Reuters on Friday of her latest difficulty — a Swiss court’s decision to indict her for corruption. But she was determined to stay in control of her life. “I hope that I am in control of my life even when I am out of power,” she said. “I couldn’t
accept being branded with corruption charges. It is
important to prove to all those who believed in me, women
in particular, that those charges were false,” she
said. |
USA, UK agree on trial venue WASHINGTON, Aug 25 (AP) —The USA and Britain have agreed to allow two Libyans charged in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight-103 over Scotland to be tried by a Scottish court in the Netherlands, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said here today. Ms Albright challenged Libya to accept the offer and described it “as a take it or leave it proposition for the Libyans”. “In London, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook urged Libya to cooperate quickly and without equivocation,” and asked UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to inform Libya of the agreement and seek arrangements for the transfer of the two accused. The Pan Am bombing killed all 259 passengers and crew and 11 persons on the ground in Lockerbie, Scotland. Among the dead were 189 Americans. At the time of the 1991 indictment of the two defendants, the State Department said the mid-air bombing was “a Libyan Government operation from start to finish.” Ms Albright said in a brief statement to reporters that the step was fully consistent with UN Security Council resolutions and had been suggested to USA as a way to call the Libyan Government’s bluff and to bring the fugitives to court at last. “After consultations with the Netherlands, we have concluded that such a trial is indeed possible. Accordingly, we have decided to go forward with the trial of the two suspects before a Scottish court, with Scottish judges applying Scottish law,” she said. Ms Albright made no mention of the possibility of the lifting of UN sanctions against Libya which were imposed several years after the bombing. However, Mr Cook said that
if the two accused were handed over quickly, Britain
would support action in the Security Council to
immediately suspend sanctions against Libya. |
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