Sunday, November 8, 1998
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W O R L D | Sunday, November 8, 1998 |
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USA may attack Iraq NEW YORK, Nov 7 — A US military strike on Iraq could come as early as next week, NBC television reported yesterday, quoting diplomatic sources. The report said forces capable of executing a strike on Iraq were already in the region. Bhutto
fears revolution Sikh
detainee in UK refused compensation |
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S. Africa bans arms to Lanka COLOMBO, Nov 7 — South Africa has banned the sale of weapons to Sri Lankan army shortly after launching investigations into the activities of the LTTE, a newspaper report said today. Gingrich
not to seek re-election
Double
agent ‘was recruited’ in Delhi French
literary prizes |
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USA may attack Iraq NEW YORK, Nov 7 (AFP) — A US military strike on Iraq could come as early as next week, NBC television reported yesterday, quoting diplomatic sources. The report said forces capable of executing a strike on Iraq were already in the region and said Saudi Arabia and Turkey had given permission for US military deployment from their soil. The report did not give further details. UNITED NATIONS: The UN Special Commission tasked with Iraqi disarmament plans to withdraw 25 experts from Baghdad in the coming days, an UNSCOM official said. But UNSCOM Deputy Chairman Charles Duelfer stressed the move would not affect the commission’s ability to carry out inspections if Iraq rescinds a decision to halt cooperation with the UN weapons inspectors. Mr Duelfer told AFP yesterday the “25 or so” who would leave Baghdad by next Wednesday included a team sent to monitor an Iraqi missile test-firing but were unable to do so as a result of the Iraqi decision last Saturday to halt cooperation with UNSCOM. Iraq yesterday rejected an appeal from the UN Security Council to rescind Saturday’s decision which according to the council is a “flagrant violation” of UN resolutions. Iraq on August 5 barred UNSCOM and the International Atomic Energy Agency from carrying out intrusive inspections, although it allowed both agencies to continue with restricted monitoring operations. Lift oil embargo “Iraq is right to stick to its position”, said the official daily, Al-Jumhuriya. “It will not go back on its decision before its justified demands are met, starting with implementation of paragraph 22 of (UN Security Council) resolution 687, as a first step toward lifting all sanctions”, it said. The resolution calls for lifting the oil embargo once Iraq has met its obligations to eliminate weapons of mass destruction as laid down under the ceasefire terms of the 1991 Gulf War over Kuwait. On Thursday, the Security Council unanimously condemned Baghdad’s decision of October 31 to halt all cooperation with the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) in charge of Iraqi disarmament. But its resolution 1205
did not threaten military action and the council was
split over the issue of paragraph 22 and the oil embargo.
Washington rejected French and Chinese calls for a
specific reference to paragraph 22. |
Bhutto fears revolution KARACHI, Nov 7 (Reuters) — Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto said she feared Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s “Serbian” leadership could tip Pakistan towards an Islamic revolution or military take-over. “For the first time in my life I have this genuine cause of concern that if Sharif continues we can have either a clerical revolution or a junior officers’ coup d’etat,” Ms Bhutto told Reuters Television in an interview. Mr Sharif’s government says it has strengthened the supremacy of Parliament since elections in February, 1997, and has scoffed at talk of the army, which has ruled Pakistan for much of its independent history, taking over the reins of power again. Ms Bhutto said Pakistan’s religious schools or madrassas, birthplace of Afghanistan’s Taliban movement and anti-India militants in Kashmir, could nurture an Islamic revolution in Pakistan itself. “The madrassas have provided Mujahids (Islamic warriors) to fight for the freedom of Afghanistan perhaps surreptitiously in Kashmir and it is these madrassas which will capitalise on people’s anger to begin an armed uprising,” she said. The suspension of an international monetary fund programme sanctions imposed for nuclear tests in May, a balance of payments crunch and tense relations with the provinces all pointed to a deepening economic and political crisis, she said. This situation “should be a cause of concern for all those who believe in peace and stability and are concerned by the world’s most newly acquired nuclear state going under,” said Ms Bhutto. Ms Bhutto criticised Mr Sharif’s uneasy relations with the provinces, which led to the imposition of direct or Governor’s rule in Sindh province on Friday to end “terrorist” violence in which 750 persons have been killed this year alone. “Imposition of Governor’s rule deny the people of Sindh their fundamental rights (and) will lead to greater anger and hatred in this province against the centre which is dangerous for our country and dangerous for the region,” she said. “We believe that this is yet one more folly on the part of Nawaz Sharif. He needs to be able to accommodate groups but it seems he has a penchant for autocratic rule — he cannot get on with anybody,” she added. Ms Bhutto said Mr Sharif
was acting “like a Serbian leader who wants to
extinguish all other communities and people who make up
this great land of Pakistan”. |
Bhutto aide convicted of corruption KARACHI, Nov 7 (ANI) — A court in Pakistan on Tuesday convicted a close aide of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and a top official of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of corruption. The accountability bench of the Sindh High Court sentenced former provincial minister and secretary-general of the Sindh PPP, Pir Mazharul Haq, to two years’ rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1 million. The court found him guilty of corruption and sent him to jail. In case he fails to pay the fine, he would have to face a further sentence of six months, the court order said. Haq was charged with allotting a petrol pump to one Aziz Tariq, who has been acquitted in the case giving him the benefit of the doubt. The counsel of Pir
Mazharul Haq, Azizullah Sheikh, had moved an application
before the court for granting of “B class” to
his client, which was acceded to by the court. The police
later arrested Haq and sent him to jail. The court had
already declared former Chief Minister of Sindh Syed
Abdullah Shah an absconder in the same case. |
Sikh detainee in UK refused compensation LONDON, Nov 7 (DPA) — An English court yesterday refused to grant compensation to a radical Sikh leader from India who spent six years in detention in Britain while London tried vainly to deport him. Karamjit Singh Chahal, described by his lawyers as the “longest-serving civil detainee this century” in Britain, had challenged Home Secretary Jack Straw’s refusal in February last year to make an ex-gratia payment. Chahal (50) who has since been granted political asylum and lives in Luton, north of London, was released in November 1996 when he won a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg that the government had violated his rights. Britain had said he had to go home “for reasons of national security” and as part of the fight against terrorism. The European court ruled that Chahal would be subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment if sent back to India. But the British Government said it did not have to compensate him, and the high court in London agreed yesterday. The court said his
“administrative detention” had been lawful
because he was being held pending the resolution of his
case. |
S. Africa bans arms to Lanka COLOMBO, Nov 7 (PTI) — South Africa has banned the sale of weapons to Sri Lankan army shortly after launching investigations into the activities of the LTTE, a newspaper report said today. “The South African Government has taken a decision not to sell weapons to countries affected by armed insurgencies,” The Island, quoting a senior South African diplomat, Jaco Scoeman, said. Scoeman, the Third Secretary (Political), of the South African High Commission in Delhi, was currently visiting Colombo along with two other diplomats. The decision to halt the sale of arms could affect the Sri Lankan army as it made extensive use of South African made armed “buffel” personnel carriers and mines in its battle against the LTTE. South Africa was one of the few countries which sold the arms to Sri Lanka even in the worst times, when other countries refused to sell the same due to poor human rights records of the previous governments. The three-member South African diplomatic delegation was in Colombo to reassure the Sri Lankan government about the seriousness of their government’s effort to “deal” with the LTTE activities in South Africa. Yesterday they told a press conference here that South African Government had not supplied any arms to the LTTE as alleged by the Sri Lankan Government and denied reports that the LTTE had acquired two South African made helicopters. The South African decision to impose ban on the sale of weapons could further affect the relations between the two countries, which were strained by the allegations of growing LTTE activities in South Africa. The decision assumes significance as the LTTE had repeatedly appealed the South African Government to stop the sale of arms to Sri Lanka. South Africa has no
diplomatic mission in Colombo. Instead the South African
mission in Delhi was also accredited to the Sri Lankan
Government. |
Gingrich not to seek re-election WASHINGTON, Nov 7 (PTI) — US House of representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich today announced he would not seek re-election to the post of Speaker even as a section of his Republican Party demanded that he be sacked, blaming him for the poor showing in the mid-term election. Mr Gingrich’s decision came within hours of a revolt against him by many Republicans who blame him for the poor showing in the November 3 mid-term elections in which Republicans were expecting to haul more seats. A large body of Republicans are angry and upset with Mr Gingrich for not thinking of a better platform for the party than to focus on President Clinton’s moral failings in which the country was not interested much. Mr Gingrich’s spokesman told the media Mr Gingrich feels “it is time for him to move forward, where he believes he has a significant role.” He confirmed he would not seek another term as Speaker but he said no final decision had been made whether or not he should stay in Congress at all when he finishes his term as Speaker by the end of this year. Meanwhile, Congressman Bob Livingston yesterday announced he was a candidate to replace Mr Gingrich as Speaker. A local radio station commented: “Bob to give the boot to Newt.” The Republicans have decided to meet in a couple of weeks to elect the new leadership by secret ballot. Mr Gingrich had won re-election easily on November 3. The only person in the group that came to power with him who is not being asked to quit by his colleagues is Majority Whip Tom DeLay. Republicans, however,
expressed shock and sadness at the sudden political
downfall of Mr Gingrich who led a Republican revolution
four years ago. |
USA loses key UN panel seat UNITED NATIONS, Nov 7 (AP) — The USA was defeated in its bid for a seat on the powerful UN Budget Committee yesterday, apparently because Washington still owes the United Nations $ 1.3 billion in back dues. It was the second consecutive defeat for the USA, which had been on the committee for nearly 50 years before it was ousted in the last vote in 1996. “We definitely thought we deserved to have a seat,” said Deputy US Ambassador Peter Burleigh. “Being the major contributor to the United Nations ... we had hoped and expected that we would be elected.” But the USA and Germany lost to Britain and Italy in a four-way contest for two seats on the Advisory Committee on administrative and budgetary questions, which sets policy for the UN budget, expenditures and personnel. The committee is known
throughout the United Nations by its initials ACABQ. |
Double agent ‘was recruited’ in Delhi MOSCOW, Nov 7 (UNI) — The CIA recruited one of its longest serving agents in the former Soviet intelligence network when the double agent was posted in New Delhi. Dmitri Polyakov was lured by the US intelligence outfit when he was serving in India in the sixties. He held the rank of captain and subsequently rose to become a Major-General. Disclosing this, Izvestia says Polyakov had served as double agent for nearly 26 years before he was found out and nabbed. The Russian military
intelligence service, popularly known by its acronym
“GRU”, observed its 80th anniversary on
November 5. |
French literary prizes PARIS, Nov 7 (AP) — France’s much-awaited literary prize season kicked off yesterday with the prestigious Medicis Prize going to a former jockey for his novel about surprise horses. The Femina Prize, meanwhile, went to a love story set in 20th century China. The awards are widely regarded as consolation prizes for authors eliminated from the race for France’s most coveted prize, the Goncourt, to be announced on Monday. The Medicis Foreign Prize, which goes to the year’s best novel by a non-French writer, went to Britain’s Jonathan Coe for “The House of Sleep.” In “Le Loup Mongol” (The Mongolian Wolf), published by Grasset, the author Homericq, born Frederic Dion, takes readers on a breathless search for horse thieves in 12th-century Mongolia during the era of Genghis Khan. Dion is a former jockey and currently writes for The Daily Liberation about horse racing and equestrian events. The Femina went to the Chinese-born Francois Cheng for “Le Dit De Tianyia” (published by Albin Michel), the tale of a love triangle set against Mao’s cultural revolution and work camps. The Medici winners earn
4,500 francs (about $ 800) each. The Femina carries no
monetary prize. |
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| Mir ready for meteorite rain MOSCOW: Two Russian cosmonauts on the Mir space station face two strong meteorite showers later this month but will be safe, a spokesman for the Russian space agency has said. “Mir has a very reliable outer protection to prevent the negative effects of meteorite showers,” he said. Cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Sergel Avdeyev, who have been in space since August, plan to capture some of the meteorite particles for analysis. — Reuters ‘Spiderman’
arrested Father at 78 Impotence warning WWF accuses Japan Glenn’s gift Poison scare |
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