Rocket attacks launched on Kabul
KABUL, Nov 16 —Afghanistan’s civil war today entered a fresh round of pitched battles with fighting escalating across a second frontline amid rocket strikes on Kabul.

Georgian Finance Minister quits

13 Congo soldiers executed

No further steps, says Iraq

NICOSIA, Nov 16 (AFP) — Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz has said Iraq would not accept any “further conditions” on ending its standoff over disarmament after US President Bill Clinton suggested that the USA wanted Baghdad to take additional measures to put an end to the crisis.

“Iraq does not accept any further conditions beyond the (UN) Security Council resolutions and the memorandum of understanding which I signed with the Secretary-General of the United Nations,” he said on CNN, monitored here yesterday.

“Iraq is only committed to the contents of the letter I sent yesterday to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. In the implementation of UN resolutions and the memorandum of understanding, we are dealing with the United Nations. We are not dealing with the United States,” he said.

Mr Aziz’s statement throwing doubt on signed commitments from the Baghdad’s Ambassador to the United Nations prompted urgent consultations here and delayed the start of the next round of consultations on the UN’s reaction to Iraq’s offer.

Iraq on Saturday brought an 11th-hour end to the disarmament crisis by sending a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, announcing it would resume cooperation with UN weapons inspectors, narrowly averting a planned US-British military strike on Baghdad.

But US President Clinton said resuming cooperation with the UN inspectors was “not enough” and named five points with which the USA is insisting Baghdad must comply.

WASHINGTON (PTI): United Nations weapons inspectors and humanitarian staff are on their way back to Baghdad after Iraq agreed to resume cooperation with the inspectors, UN officials said today.

Chief Weapons Inspector Richard Butler ordered his men, pulled out as American air strikes became imminent, back to Baghdad tomorrow.

“They’ll be going back on Tuesday morning,” Mr Butler told reporters last night after a Security Council meeting that took note of Iraqi decision that allowed “the return of inspectors to resume all their activities on an immediate, unconditional and unrestricted basis”.

Expressing satisfaction over the resolution of the crisis, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Iraq must move swiftly to ensure “complete and unconditional compliance” with the Security Council resolutions.

“That is the best way towards the lifting of sanctions and a better life for the people of Iraq,” Mr Annan said in a statement.

The Security Council, after a two-and-a-half hour consultation, said a letter and clarifications from the Iraqi Government showed it had decided “clearly and unconditionally” to cooperate with the UN Special Commission (Unscom), charged with eliminating its weapons of mass destruction, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Taking note of past experience, the council members underlined that their confidence needed to be established by “unconditional and sustained” cooperation with Unscom and IAEA in their “full range of activities.”

The council also took note that Iraq had rescinded its August 7 decision to put limitation on inspectors and the October 31 decision to end cooperation.

NEW YORK (PTI): Iraqi President Saddam Hussein represents the “worst nightmare” for the non-proliferation regime and “clearly” hopes to acquire weapons of mass destruction, United Nations Chief Weapons Inspector Richard Butler has said.

“The guy (Saddam) seems to really like them and has proved he is willing to use them. Worst of all, he abuses the system built by the international community, signs all treaties, then secretly pushes ahead with development,” Mr Butler said in an article to be published in the coming issue of “Newsweek”.

For every inspector in the field, Iraqis had 10 dedicated to frustrating his work, Mr Butler said, adding, “We’ve had their phoney disclosures. We’ve had to reconstruct bits of exploded weapons like jigsaw puzzle in the deserts and we’ve to pursue intrusive inspections which is where the big political problem comes.”

The job in Iraq, he said, was difficult “from the beginning as Saddam Hussein refused to tell the truth.”

“He created top-level committees to conceal weapons, to bury them, to hide them, to move them around at the dead of night so that we would never find them,” Mr Butler said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters): The USA has spared Iraq’s President Saddam Hussein a military pounding but made clear it would intensify efforts to remove him from power.

President Bill Clinton’s call for a “new government” in Baghdad was the most emphatic statement of the US desire to see Mr Saddam replaced and comes backed by recently passed legislation approving a nearly $ 100 million campaign to remove him.

“Saddam Hussein remains an impediment to the well-being of his people and a threat to the peace of his region and the security of the world,” Mr Clinton said while announcing that Iraq had averted imminent military strikes by agreeing unconditionally to let UN weapons inspections resume.

“Over the long term, the best way to address that threat is through a government in Baghdad — a new government — that is committed to represent and respect its people, not repress them; that is committed to peace in the region,” he said.

Sindh Assembly sealed off

KARACHI, Nov 16 (AFP) — The Sindh Assembly building was sealed off by Pakistani authorities today to thwart an opposition bid to hold a session in defiance of the federal government.

Police personnel, backed by armoured vehicles, guarded the building. All approaches were barricaded with water tankers and barbed wire.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif clamped federal rule in Sindh on October 30, ordering a crackdown on “terrorism and violence” in the provincial capital, Karachi.

He did not dissolve or suspend the provincial assembly, though it has effectively stopped work.

Around 50 Deputies from the ethnic-based Muttahida Qaumi movement (MQM) and the main Opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto were barred from entering the assembly.

Opposition lawmakers were told by the police to disperse when they arrived.

“We do not want any trouble here. We will arrest anyone who breaks the law and tries to enter the Assembly building,” a senior police official said.

Last week the government suspended the powers of the Sindh Assembly Speaker and his Deputy to summon the House. But it let Opposition members hold a session inside, during which they flayed the federal intervention.

Habibie vows action on rioters

JAKARTA, Nov 16 (Reuters) — Indonesian President B.J. Habibie today vowed swift action against those responsible for a week of deadly clashes and rioting that swept the capital, and offered sympathy to the families of the dead.

“We promise to do a fair, transparent and thorough investigation based on the law and we also promise to take firm action against those who have violated the law, including the security forces,” he said in a nationally televised address, copies of which were distributed beforehand.

Mr Habibie, who held a long meeting with the armed forces chief, General Wiranto, today, pledged tough punishment would be meted out to anyone found guilty, including members of the armed forces.

At least 14 people died in clashes between troops and anti-government protesters last week and almost 450 were injured.

“We wish to express our condolences for students, civilian and security forces officials who have died during the incidents on November 13,” Mr Habibie said.

The Indonesian capital was mostly quiet today, with several peaceful anti-government protests demanding faster democratic reform, an end to the military’s political role and Gen Wiranto’s ouster.

Earlier, President B.J. Habibie ordered a minister to prepare a draft law to enable an investigation of the wealth of ousted President Suharto.

The draft was ordered by the country’s highest legislative body at a meeting last week. A draft issued by the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) on Friday , specifically named Suharto as the target for investigation of serving and former officials.

“Regarding the follow-up on the investigation into the wealth of former President Suharto, the President has ordered the acting Justice Minister, Hartarto to prepare a draft Bill,” state secretary Akbar Tanjug said.

Tanjug spoke after Mr Habibie met eight ministers and the head of the national intelligence agency at Merdeka Palace.

Tanjug said another investigation headed by Attorney-General Muhamad Ghalib would continue “based on the principle of being innocent till proved guilty”.

BANDAR LAMPUNG: Thousands of students took over the Indonesian broadcasting system (RRI) building in Tanjungkarang on Saturday for 40 minutes to broadcast their stand on the death of nine students in the bloody incident in Jakarta the day before. The management of the state radio station allowed five of the students to enter the studio to broadcast their stand. The students also rejected the outcome of the People’s Consultative Assembly special session, which ended on Friday.

More leaders show concern for Anwar

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 (Reuters) — Buoyed by foreign leaders solidarity, Anwar Ibrahim’s wife said today US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s decision to meet her lent power to the detained former Cabinet Minister’s legal fight.

“It does give a lot of weight because Secretary Albright is the Secretary of State of a very powerful nation,” Mrs Wan Azizah told Reuters in an interview when asked if the meeting would have any bearing on Anwar’s trial.

Ms Albright, brushing aside Malaysian authorities’ objections met Anwar’s wife yesterday in a Kuala Lumpur hotel during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting.

An Australian Minister and two Canadian counterparts also met Mrs Wan Azizah on the sidelines of the APEC meetings in defiant displays of solidarity which underscore international concern over Malaysian authorities’ treatment of Anwar.

Rocket attacks launched on Kabul

KABUL, Nov 16 (AFP) —Afghanistan’s civil war today entered a fresh round of pitched battles with fighting escalating across a second frontline amid rocket strikes on Kabul.

Both the Taliban and sources close to ethnic Tajik commander Ahmad Shah Masood, confirmed intense fighting was continuing in northern Afghanistan near Baghlan province, where strategic supply routes are at stake.

Masood spokesman Mohammad Aref told AFP that Taliban suffered scores of casualties in overnight fighting. The Islamic militia’s official broadcaster, Radio Shariat, said 10 anti-Taliban soldiers had died.

Taliban authorities claimed they had recaptured Ishkamish and Burka districts in and around Baghlan during a counter attack after both areas fell to Masood yesterday.

The districts encompass mountainous supply routes, linking Masood’s Panjsher valley with the Tajikistan border. Winning control of them is important to both sides ahead of the harsh Afghan winter.

“Masood did not gain anything in these operations but failure,” a Taliban spokesman said.

But Aref dismissed the claims, saying the militia had only secured “a number of posts” and 20 per cent of Burka, while Ishkamish and a third disputed district, Dashit-i-Archi, “are both firmly in our hands.”

A fourth district, Ahrin, was also captured by Masood’s troops but heavy fighting was continuing, he said.

Nepal Govt ‘hostage to mafia’
from Prakash Khanal in Kathmandu

The Nepal Government, according to its senior ministers, is a hostage. Not just to fortune, as are all developing countries, but to the mafia.

This is not the Italian mafia, of course. In Nepal, as in Russia or former Yugoslavia, the term simply signifies wealthy and powerful “businessmen” whose business spans both legal and illegal trades and whose money buys them political access and even politicians themselves.

A recent report from a high-level Interior Ministry committee put in black and white how police, secret service, revenue, customs and immigration officials are protecting the mafia and facilitating the trafficking of contraband from Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).

In the report, Shreekanta Regmi, Special Secretary at the Interior Ministry, explains how almost 60 government agencies are represented at the TIA, while trafficking continues to increase.

“There are politicians who take money from the traffickers to influence the government”, said Mr Regmi. His report says parliamentarians have been paid huge amounts that came neither from state coffers nor political parties.

Over the past six months, the situation of law and order in the country has taken a downward drive as ordinary people die in police custody, and corruption has taken deeper roots making life miserable for ordinary people.

Interior Minister Govinda Raj Joshi insists he will tackle the mafia head-on. “I am not going to compromise with them,” he said, threatening to wage a war to wipe them out.

“Give us your constructive criticism and valuable suggestions and I promise to give you a strong and corruption-free administration”.

Contrary to his assurance, the influence of the international crime network only rises. Nepal is increasingly becoming a base for international criminals and terrorist organisations dealing with drugs, foreign currency, gold, silver and weapons, as well as human trafficking.

In the year to July, 1998, 25.5 tonnes of gold was imported legally into Nepal and 150 kg of gold was seized by customs officials at the TIA. Similarly, some 48 tonnes of silver was legally imported into Nepal over the same period with no mention of any seizures.

Every Nepali who spends one month abroad can legally bring in 10 kg of gold and 150 kg of silver. But Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world. Many among its populations of around 22 million find it difficult to buy green vegetables, the cheapest staple in the market, so there is no way that a huge quantity of gold can be used by the Nepalese alone.

“The seized gold and that which is legally imported, is only a fraction of what is illegally imported into Nepal every day,” an employee of the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation at the TIA confided. “I am here on duty every day and I am sure what is recorded at Customs is only 25 per cent of the total”.

Internationally, Nepal is being recognised as an important transit point and a safe haven for international criminals and traffickers, more so in recent years.

Dubai and Hong Kong are particularly recognised as ports of origin for huge quantities of gold, bought with foreign currency or Indian rupees smuggled out of Nepal and India.The Nepalese law enforcement authorities asked the Hong Kong Government to provide details of some suspects’ accounts, but the Nepalese Government refused to give Hong Kong judicial authority stopping the process.

The Nepal Drug Control Law Enforcement Unit (NDCLEU) says it has proof that gold is also bought from foreign currency generated by the sale of narcotic drugs smuggled out of Nepal and India by Nepalese, Indians and foreign collaborators.

In the past nine months, drug control agents have arrested 1,000 persons, including 127 foreigners, and seized around 2,500 kg of hashish, 2,700 kg of cannabis and 5.5 kg of heroin.

Mr Joshi believes the mafia is the explanation for the frequent changes of administration in Nepal — on an average every six months — once the incumbents begin failing to serve and please the mafia.

It builds a vicious circle. As politicians feel they can do little about illegal activities, disillusionment with politics builds, and illegal activity also accelerates. Then, according to Mr Joshi, as soon as signs of action appear, illegal money makes sure that the votes are there to topple the government.

Says Mr Regmi: “When corruption receives social acceptance, it goes on increasing and that’s what happened in Nepal.

— Gemini News

Georgian Finance Minister quits

MOSCOW, Nov 16 (AFP) —Georgian Finance Minister Mikhail Chkuaseli, appointed to the post a year and-a-half ago, has stepped down with no explanation for his decision, Itar-Tass news agency has reported.

President Eduard Shevardnadze accepted the resignation on Saturday, saying that the Caucasian Republic was undergoing “a complex process of democratic development and change of officials connected with the coming to power of a team of reformers.”

13 Congo soldiers executed

LONDON, Nov 16 (Reuters) —Thirteen soldiers of the Democratic Republic of Congo Army, including officers, have been executed for betrayal and desertion, Congo television has reported.

They were sentenced for “betraying the fatherland, the murder of our valiant officers, fleeing before the enemy, abandoning the troops and leaving their weapons for the enemy,” the broadcast, monitored by BBC, quoted an army statement as saying on Saturday.

Chetia plans biography
DHAKA: Jailed ULFA leader Anup Chetia has sought permission from a Bangladesh court to write his biography while serving a six-year term at Dhaka Central Jail. In a petition, Chetia appealed to the Special Tribunal of Additional District and Sessions Judge Shahid Nuruddin to issue directives to the jail authorities to supply him the necessary material for writing his biography. — PTI

6 clergymen killed
LONDON: Six clergymen were killed while on a peace mediation mission to a rebel group in the Republic of Congo, Radio France Internationale has reported. The six, members of a church committee set up to end armed conflict in the region, were killed on Saturday “in cold blood” at Mindouli in the pool region west of the capital city of Brazzaville, the radio quoted witnesses as saying in a report monitored by the BBC on Sunday. — Reuters.

Trigger-happy cops
WASHINGTON: The US Capital’s police is the most trigger-happy lot in the country, according to an investigative study conducted by The Washington Post. There was “a pattern of reckless and indiscriminate gunplay by officers sent to the streets with inadequate training and little oversight,” the daily said, quoting the findings of the study which pieced together several records, including internal ones. — PTI

Ukraine floods
MOSCOW: Flooding in the Carpathian mountains of Western Ukraine has claimed at least 12 lives and left thousands homeless, a Russian news agency reported. The dead include a family of four, swept away along with their home when it was struck by a mud slide, Interfax said, citing Ukraine’s Ministry of Emergency Situations. — AP

“Full Monty”
LONDON: Prince Charles’ teenage sons did a “Full Monty” striptease at their father’s 50th birthday party, but didn’t quite go all the way, the Sun tabloid reported. Princes William (16) and Harry (14) played out a scene from the British hit film about male strippers as festivities continued until 3 a.m. on Sunday following a more formal party for Prince Charles at his highgrove country estate, the paper said. — Reuters

Methuselah gene
WASHINGTON: A tiny change in the so-called methuselah gene extends life by 35 per cent — at least in fruit flies. Researchers are now searching for similar genes in humans as reported in the US Research Journal Science. The fruit flies with a modified methuselah (MTH) gene also displayed enhanced resistance to various forms of stress, including starvation, high temperature and substances which destroy cells. — DPA