W O R L D	Sunday, July 19, 1998
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Vajpayee to meet Sharif on July 29 COLOMBO, July 18 — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif will meet here on July 29 on the fringes of SAARC summit to pave the way for resumption of the stalled bilateral talks... War crimes court created ROME, July 18 (Agencies) — Delegates from more than 100 countries overwhelmingly approved a historic treaty on Friday creating the world’s first permanent war crimes tribunal ignoring strenuous US objections...

Mandela marries Graca Machel PRETORIA, July 18 — South African President Nelson Mandela celebrated his 80th birthday today by marrying his Mozambican sweetheart Graca Machel...

1,000 feared killed in tidal wave PORT MORESBY, July 18 (AFP, AP) — A massive tidal wave crashed into the remote north coast of Papua New Guinea wiping seven villages off the map and leaving up to 1,000 persons dead Pak to take USA to court on F-16 delivery ISLAMABAD, July 18 — Cash-starved Pakistan has finally decided to take the US Government to the court for non-delivery of 28 F-16 fighter planes and to recover $ 658 million which it had paid to Washington nearly a decade ago for the consignment... Indo-Nepal border talks fail KATHMANDU, July 18 — A three-day meeting of the joint Indo-Nepal technical group of survey officials has concluded without being able to determine the status of Kalapani... 2 Pakistani cops shot dead LAHORE, July 18 — An unidentified man shot dead a Senior Police Superintendent and another police officer today in separate attacks in Pakistan... Pakistan hikes petrol prices ISLAMABAD, July 18 — Pakistan today announced a steep 25 per cent hike in the price of petrol... Kennedy-killing video on sale ONE of the most shocking pieces of amateur film footage ever taken went on sale on Tuesday for the first time in the USA as a video. Americans can now sit in their homes and watch the digitally enhanced film of the top of President John F. Kennedy’s head being blown off by an assassin’s bullet...

Vajpayee to meet Sharif on July 29 COLOMBO, July 18 (PTI) — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif will meet here on July 29 on the fringes of SAARC summit to pave the way for resumption of the stalled bilateral talks between the two countries on various outstanding issues including Kashmir. Official sources today said both the countries have agreed for the date and the meeting would take place at a luxury hotel after the inaugural session of the 10th SAARC summit. This would be the first meeting between the prime ministers of the two countries after last May underground nuclear explosions by India and Pakistan. Both the prime ministers would be arriving in the Sri Lankan capital on July 28 to attend the seven-nation SAARC summit, the sources said. Soon after his arrival, Mr Vajpayee is expected to have bilateral talks with various heads of states and governments attending the summit, they said. The heads of the state of the SAARC countries would be adjourning for retreat meeting outside Colombo on July 30. The same day Mr Vajpayee would be inaugurating the Indian Cultural Centre built by the Indian High Commission here to offer training in Indian music and dance. Later same day Mr Vajpayee would attend a civic reception during which he would be meeting heads of various parties, including leaders of Sri Lankan Tamil parties.

War crimes court created; Indian proposal rejected ROME, July 18 (Agencies) — Delegates from more than 100 countries overwhelmingly approved a historic treaty on Friday creating the world’s first permanent war crimes tribunal ignoring strenuous US objections. The delegates erupted into cheers and applause when the treaty won final approval yesterday by a vote of 120-7, with 21 abstaining. An American bid to undermine the package deal was beat back by a vote of 113-17, with 25 nations abstaining. India suffered a similar fate when it, too, tried to torpedo the deal. The showdown at the UN talks attended by 160 nations created strange alliances. Joining the USA in denouncing treaty provisions were nations like Libya, Algeria, China, Qatar and Yemen. Traditionally close US allies, countries like Canada and Britain, mustered to the treaty’s defence. The vote was a victory for an idea born with the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals, put in the deep freeze by the cold war, then revived in the ethnic bloodbaths of Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. “I think this is a great, historic achievement,” said Mr Benjamin Ferencz (78), a Nuremberg prosecutor who has worked ever since for a permanent tribunal. The new international criminal court will bring individuals to justice for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression. The UN Security Council created international war crimes tribunals to investigate war crimes and genocide in Yugoslavia and Rwanda, but the treaty calls for an independent court that will be able to act even when the international community dithers, as it did in the Balkans and Africa. The carefully crafted compromise treaty emerged after weeks of tough talks in Rome and years of preliminary negotiations. The USA went into the talks driven by the desire to protect its troops abroad from frivolous, politically motivated prosecutions. But a wide coalition of nations, including traditionally US allies, fought against any such escape provision because of fears that dictatorships around the world would use the same loophole to protect their troops. Delegates at the UN conference were startled to learn that India had abstained in the final vote on the statute. Indian delegate Dilip Lahiri had forced an unsuccessful vote on his country’s bid to include the use of nuclear weapons as a war crime and exclude the UN Security council from any role in the court. Mr Lahiri said he had abstained to show that despite the shortcomings, India still supported the principle of establishing a court to try genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and aggression. “All this week you in the media have been painting us into a corner as black. Now you are going to have to paint us grey,” he joked. A large majority of countries rejected last-minute amendments proposed by India and the USA. India had insisted that weapons of mass destruction — including nuclear, chemical and biological weapons — be included in the list of weapons whose use constituted a war crime. The court will be set up in the Hague once the statute is ratified. The conference also rejected a US amendment which would have made it impossible for the future court to try citizens from countries which had not signed up to the ICC. The court, whose statute is a compromise between supporters and opponents of a strong and independent institution, will judge war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression. Amnesty International commented, “While recognising that this court could be an historic step forward for international justice, the statute still requires radical surgery to ensure that the court will be just, relevant and effective.” In Washington, the USA ruled out joining the international war crimes tribunal following rejection of its amendment seeking to debar the future court from trying citizens of the countries who have not signed the statute approving establishment of the court. The USA will not join the global court on war crimes though Washington had taken the initiative to create it, senior US officials told newsmen soon after the statute was approved in Rome overruling the US draft. The amendment, which would have given the USA a veto if its troops or nationals are sought to be tried, was turned down by 113 votes to 17. Justifying the US stand, State Department spokesman James Rubin said, "the instrument that is being created in Rome will not be an effective instrument. It is being created in a rush of judgment that does not adequately reflect the important role that the USA and our armed forces play around the world." "The text, as approved, opens up the possibility of politically motivated and unjustified prosecution, which is unacceptable to us," he said. Chief US delegate to the conference David Scheffer said his country voted against the statute because "we do not accept the concept of universal jurisdiction or the application of a statute to non-party states." The USA had insisted that only sovereign nations or the UN Security Council would be able to bring cases before the court. By 120 votes to 7, the delegates decided that the independent prosecutor should also have the authority. Mr Richard Dicker, chief monitor of the conference on behalf of the New York-based Human Rights Watch, said: "The support of the package that was approved was overwhelming, and it included every major ally in the world." He said in voting against the agreement, the USA placed itself in the company of nations to which human rights are anathema, such as Iraq, Algeria and Cuba. "It is a sad thing to see, after Washington played such a crucial role in establishing the principle of responsibility," he added.

1,000 feared killed in tidal wave PORT MORESBY, July 18 (AFP, AP) — A massive tidal wave crashed into the remote north coast of Papua New Guinea wiping seven villages off the map and leaving up to 1,000 persons dead, officials said today. The 10-metre Tsunami engulfed the heavily populated villages near Aitape, 800 km north of here yesterday, — 30 minutes after an undersea earthquake in the area. Many of the villagers are believed to have died instantly as the deadly wall of water struck without warning sending their homes crashing into the raging torrent. The villages, on a narrow strip of land sandwiched between the sea and the Sisano Lagoon, were all swept inland into the water. The homes, mostly built on the beach from flimsy bush materials with thatched roofs, had no chance of withstanding the wave’s ferocity. Mr Peter Tavun, provincial disaster coordinator in West Sepik province, said rescuers had so far pulled out 71 bodies, many of them children, from the lagoon. He said many more bodies were floating in the water and that hundreds, "May be even a thousand," had been killed in the disaster", he said. "This would have to be the most horrific disaster to have hit us in living memory," Mr Tavun said. Hundreds of injured survivors, many of whom swam to safety, are being treated at local government and mission hospitals, he pointed out. Seven heavily populated villages were completely wiped out with many of their inhabitants either killed, missing or injured while the survivors urgently need shelter, food and water, he said. He said four villagers — Sissand, Warapu, Arop and Malol — were badly affected. Local residents said hundreds of houses had been destroyed and up to 15,000 persons may be affected. Mr Rob Parer, a businessman who lives near Aitape, said up to 90 per cent of houses in at least four villages built on the waterfront had been devastated by the wave. "The people have never heard of anything like it. They thought the world had ended," Mr Parer said. In Canberra, Australia seismologist Kevin McCue from the Australian Geological Survey Organisation said the earthquake's epicentre was just off the town of Aitape. "It was a shallow, major earthquake," he added.

Pak to take USA to court on F-16 delivery ISLAMABAD, July 18 (PTI) — Cash-starved Pakistan has finally decided to take the US Government to the court for non-delivery of 28 F-16 fighter planes and to recover $ 658 million which it had paid to Washington nearly a decade ago for the consignment. Law Minister Khalid Anwar left for Washington yesterday to hold consultations with a legal firm and the Pakistani leadership has apparently decided to go ahead with the filing of the case as only a few months are left for the expiry of the statute of limitation, media reports here said today. “The Law Minister will hold final consultations with the legal firm, Patton Boggs, before a lawsuit is filed in an American court against the US Government for not performing the contractual obligations,” a senior government official was quoted as saying by The News. The decision to take Washington to the court has already been taken by the Pakistani leadership as officials and experts believe that “Islamabad has a strong case against the US Government”, it said. A report from Washington said Pakistan had hired prominent American lawyer Lanny Davis, who had represented US President Bill Clinton in the campaign finance investigations, for the case. Pakistan had paid $ 658 million to the USA in 1989 for the purchase of 28 F-16 fighter planes but the delivery was held up due to the passing of the Pressler Amendment in 1990 which put a ban the sale of arms to Islamabad for its nuclear weapons programme. The USA, however, returned around $ 150 million after the amount was found to be in excess of the actually required payment. The aircraft are lying in a US warehouse for the past few years and even the US Government’s attempts to sell them to a third country and recover the money for payment to Pakistan has failed. If Pakistan gets back the money, it will be of great help for the country which is passing through a severe economic crisis due to sanctions imposed by several countries for its nuclear tests in May and there are fears of default on its debt repayment liabilities. “We have a strong case and a clear-cut chance of getting our money back which amounts to $ 500 million as about 150 million dollars have already been returned to Pakistan after being identified as excess payments,” the official said. Pakistan has been approaching friendly countries for assistance to meet its balance of payment requirements as it needs to meet around $ 1 billion of debt repayment liabilities in the first quarter of the current fiscal till September 30 while its foreign exchange reserves have depleted to just $ 750 million after the nuclear tests. The decision to file the case against the USA at this stage is very crucial in the sense that US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott is arriving here on Wednesday to discuss with the authorities about the signing of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). If Pakistan signs the CTBT, it may ultimately lead to the release of a crucial tranche of a $ 1.56-billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The long-term low-interest loan was sanctioned to Pakistan last year and already two tranches have been paid but the third tranche, which was to come this month, has been held back apparently due to pressure from the G-8 countries for punishing Pakistan for its six nuclear tests in May. The decision to take the USA to the court, according to analysts, was also necessary as Pakistan has time till February next year when the statute of limitation expires after which the issue cannot be taken to the settlement court.

Mandela marries Graca Machel PRETORIA, July 18 (Reuters) — South African President Nelson Mandela celebrated his 80th birthday today by marrying his Mozambican sweetheart Graca Machel. The private ceremony at Mr Mandela’s home in Houghton, a plush Johannesburg suburb, was attended by family members and political colleagues, Deputy President Thabo Mbeki announced here. The wedding had been planned two months ago but the couple had not wanted news to leak out until the union had been formalised, Mr Mbeki said. "I have a very short statement to make and a very happy one. President Nelson Mandela and Graca Machel got married this afternoon," Mr Mbeki told reporters at his official residence in Pretoria. It is Mr Mandela’s third marriage and Ms Machel’s second. The 52-year-old Ms Machel is the widow of former Mozambican President Samora Machel. None of Mr Mandela’s surviving four children, two from his first marriage to Ms Evelyn Mase and two from his second marriage to Ms Winnie Madikezela-Mandela, attended the ceremony, Mr Mbeki said. Mr Mandela’s younger sister and three brothers of Ms Machel attended the ceremony. The president wore one of his familiar floral shirts and Ms Machel wore a long white dress with lace, Mr Mbeki said. "They exchanged rings. When asked to kiss they kissed and the President said it was the first time he had kissed her," Mr Mbeki said. Mr Mandela had the ring in his own pocket, but Mr Mbeki said he and his wife signed as witnesses to the marriage. He added that Ms Machel would continue to use her own name. Mr Mandela earlier celebrated his 80th birthday quietly with family, Ms Machel and friends.

Indo-Nepal border talks fail KATHMANDU, July 18 (DPA) — A three-day meeting of the joint Indo-Nepal technical group of survey officials has concluded without being able to determine the status of Kalapani, reports said today. Both Nepal and India claim Kalapani, 475 km west of Kathmandu, as being in their territory. Kalapani has been under the occupation of the Indian security forces ever since the Sino-India conflict of 1962. The third round of talks between survey officials of the two countries ended late yesterday and, as in the past, the two sides were unable to resolve the issue. Kalapani is a strategic point near the junction of Nepal, India and China (Tibet). The Nepalese Prime Minister, Mr Girija Prasad Koirala, has repeatedly said that Kalapani was in the Nepalese territory and that Nepal would not give up even an inch of its territory. Meanwhile, a joint Nepalese parliamentary supervision committee chaired by the Lower House Speaker, Mr Ram Chandra Pokharel, has called on the government to initiate talks with India at the political level to resolve the issue as a solution to the problem from the technicians was highly unlikely. Some in Nepal have said the issue should be brought before the International Court of Justice at the Hague as India was unlikely to give up the land that it had occupied.

2 Pakistani cops shot dead LAHORE, July 18 (AFP) — An unidentified man shot dead a Senior Police Superintendent and another police officer today in separate attacks in Pakistan’s province of Punjab, the police said. The Superintendent, Ali Mohammad, died in a hail of bullets fired by two men on a motor cycle near the town of Sangla Hill. In another attack, three gunmen burst into the home of a police officer, Riaz Ahmed Gujjar, and fled after shooting him dead in the district of Vehari in southern Punjab.

Pakistan hikes petrol prices ISLAMABAD, July 18 (PTI) — Pakistan today announced a steep 25 per cent hike in the price of petrol to meet the growing budgetary shortfall following the economic squeeze due to international sanctions in the aftermath of its nuclear tests. A marathon cabinet meeting lasting for more than five hours approved the hike aimed at generating additional revenue worth Rs 10 billion after a detailed discussion on a comprehensive package to meet the impact of the sanctions, Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Hafiz Pasha said. Pasha, who was designated by the cabinet to communicate with the media, said after a detailed study of the economic scenario in the post sanctions period it was found that there was a shortfall of Rs 20 billion. The remaining Rs 10 billion will be generated through cut in expenditures as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has already announced that the non-salary expenses of the government will be reduced by at least 50 per cent, he said. The price of petrol would go up by more than Rs 4.50 per litre, but diesel and kerosene have been exempted from any hike.

Kennedy-killing video on sale By Martin Kettle in Washington ONE of the most shocking pieces of amateur film footage ever taken went on sale on Tuesday for the first time in the USA as a video. Americans can now sit in their homes and watch the digitally enhanced film of the top of President John F. Kennedy’s head being blown off by an assassin’s bullet. The 26 seconds of footage, taken by a Dallas dress salesman, Abraham Zapruder, in Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963, offer a unique record of one of the most traumatic events of the second half of the 20th century. The video, entitled ‘Image of an Assassination’, and retailing at $ 19.98, is 45- minute long. It consists of a 40-minute account of the history of the film and six separate showings of the fatal moments as recorded by Zapruder on his hand-held 8mm Bell & Howell Zoomatic cinecamera. The original film, kept in the US national archives in Washington since 1978, has been digitally enhanced and is clearer than the original version. Zapruder shot the film from the foot of the celebrated “grassy knoll” and then took it to a local television station to be developed. Interviewed later that day, he said, “I saw his head practically open up, all blood and everything. And I kept on shooting.” He died from cancer in 1970. His family have dismissed suggestions that they are trying to profit from the assassination. They say they no longer want the responsibility of deciding who has access to the film and for how much, and that they need to recoup the estimated $ 350,000 they have spent on preserving and administering the film for 35 years. Waleed Ali, executive producer of MPI Home Video, the company behind the new video, said, “It’s shocking. It’s vulgar. It’s even disgusting. But it’s something that I think the American people should see.” For years after it was shot, the film was kept under lock and key because the government and Time-Life, to whom Zapruder sold the initial rights for $50,000, believed the frames showing the head wound were to shocking for public viewing. However, the film became widely available in bootleg form, and was first shown in 1975 on late-night ABC television. It played an integral part in Oliver Stone’s 1992 Kennedy conspiracy theory movie, JFK. Time-Life sold the film back to a Zapruder family company, LMH Co, in 1975 for a token payment of $ 1. The family is now negotiating with the Justice Department to sell the film and its copyright to the federal government. The Zapruders are asking for $ 18.5 million; the government has offered $3 million. The previous tight controls on the film, and the fact that parts of it were withheld, inevitably led to speculation that it contradicted the official account of the assassination. The 1964 Warren Report concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald fired all the shots at Kennedy from a building behind the motorcade. One expert on the assassination, George Evica, says the frames showing blood and fragments of Kennedy’s brain and skull falling backwards behind him were proof that he was hit from the front. If his theory were ever to be shown to be correct, it would prove Oswald could not have acted alone, and that Kennedy was the victim of a conspiracy. —The Guardian, London

Global monitor Saddam hikes pay of teachers BAGHDAD: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has ordered a pay rise for teachers, volunteer soldiers and intelligence officers, in a decree on the 30th anniversary of his Baath Party’s rise to power. The decree, announced on Friday, awarded “high merit” medals to all teachers, volunteer soldiers, and internal security and intelligence officers with eight or more years of service under their belts. — AFP 4 shot dead KARACHI: Unidentified gunmen on Friday shot dead four persons in Karachi as youth torched vehicles in protest against the earlier murder of a religious leader in the violence-plagued city, the police said. The police has detained more than 1,000 persons in its crackdown against criminals for their alleged involvement in terrorism and unrest. — AFP Monkeys defended SAN FRANCISCO: Dressed in monkey costumes and covering their ears, activists protested to demand a halt to a California University’s plan to blast monkeys with potentially deafening levels of sound. The protest outside the University of California Board of Regents meeting was the latest demonstration against the research project, which primate researcher Jane Goodall has condemned as “cruel, outdated and financially wasteful.” The plan is to kill the animals after a few months and dissect their brains to examine how the brain changes as a result of hearing loss. — Reuters Syphilis genes WASHINGTON: Molecular biologists in the USA have said they have mapped genes that cause syphilis which will help develop a better vaccine and drugs against the widely prevalent disease. Ms Claire Fraser, a molecular biologist at the Maryland-based Institute for Genomic Research, said she and her colleagues had finally mapped all the genes in the bacterium that causes syphilis. — PTI Internet child porn BONN: Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s government ordered a nationwide drive to fight child pornography in cyberspace after revelations that an international porn ring apparently had links to Germany. Germans have been shocked by a still unfolding Dutch probe into a ring believed to have sexually abused children as young as 12 months and spread the images on the Internet. Some of its members reportedly come from Berlin. — AP Rebel detained BEIJING: Outspoken Chinese dissident Mao Guoliang has been detained by the police in a widening crackdown on a new pro-democracy opposition party in eastern China, dissident sources said on Saturday. Mao, a teacher, was picked up by more than 10 police officers while he mourned his mother who died two days earlier. — AFP

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