• Clinton ‘admitted’ to
  sex addiction

Iran puts Army on alert
DUBAI, Sept 15 — Iran today put its armed forces on alert with further escalation of the crisis with Afghanistan and sternly warned Pakistan and the Islamic Taliban militia that their actions in the war-ravaged country could spark a “wider war” in the region.

Sipah-e-Sahaba militant Sunni Muslims march toward Parliament in Islamabad for offering the funeral prayer to Shoaib Nadeem and Habib-ur-Reham on Monday. Nadeem and other three Sipah-e-Sahaba leaders were killed by unknown gunmen on Sunday near Islamabad. — AP/PTI

Pak Islamic groups may
seize power
LONDON, Sept 15 — Private armies of fundamentalist Islamic groups trained, armed and run by the Pakistan Army, have begun to seek a domestic role, fuelling fears of an Army-backed Taliban-style takeover in Pakistan.

US expert urges P-5 to cut nuclear arsenal
NEW DELHI, Sept 15 — In a significant departure from the official stand of the USA, a top American expert today said the five nuclear weapons powers should engage in "very deep cuts" in their nuclear arsenals and declare no-first-use among themselves within 15 years, as the first step towards global nuclear disarmament.

Taslima back in Bangladesh
DHAKA, Sept 15 — Controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen has returned here from New York for the first time after she fled the country four years ago amid accusations of blasphemy from Muslim fundamentalists and is living in a secret place, officials said today.

Lankan parents ‘sell’ kids to perverts
COLOMBO, Sept 15 — Some Sri Lankan parents, driven by acute poverty and ignorance, are selling their children, specially boys, to paedophiles, two criminologists of the island nation claimed today.

Yeltsin names scribe Kremlin spokesman
MOSCOW, Sept 15 — President Boris Yeltsin today named Mr Dmitry Yakushkin, a journalist, who now works on Russian Television, as his new Kremlin spokesman, Interfax has reported.

US Congress weighs impeachment moves

WASHINGTON, Sept 15 (Agencies) — The US Congress, facing the growing likelihood of a formal impeachment inquiry aimed at President Bill Clinton, has returned to work as key Democrats urged the President to stop splitting hairs over the definition of sex.

On Congress’ first day back at work since independent counsel Kenneth Starr released a graphic report, alleging 11 possible impeachment offences by Mr Clinton, Democrat leaders said Mr Clinton needed to change his story if he wanted to survive politically.

Mr Clinton has insisted he was “legally accurate” when he denied in his deposition in the Paula Jones civil lawsuit and again in grand jury testimony on August 17 last that he engaged in sexual relations with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

His legal team has also pushed the defence that Mr Clinton did not consider his activities with Lewinsky to meet the definition of sexual relations presented by Jones’s attorneys.

But yesterday, House and Senate Democrat leaders said Mr Clinton’s explanation would not stand scrutiny.

Senate Democrat leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota said, “There is a basic understanding of the standard of truthfulness that the President failed to meet.”

“He had, as he concedes, a sexual relationship that was undeniably wrong, and he didn’t tell the truth about it.” Mr Daschle said, adding, the President and his Advisers must accept that continued legal jousting serves no constructive purpose.”

Congressional Republicans, who would direct any potential impeachment inquiry, have hit Mr Clinton hard for saying that while he did have an affair with Monica, his answers Mr Starr were “legally correct” when he said he did not have sexual relations with her.

Senator Fred Thompson, a Tennessee Republican, said some might view the President’s position as “a continuation of an attempted fraud on the American people. But absurd legalisms and a continuing denial of the obvious weakens the President’s position.

The House Judiciary Committee must decide whether to begin a formal impeachment inquiry and, in the case of one, carry it out. Several members of the committee made their way yesterday to a secure room in a house office building to look at the 2,600-page of apendixes and 17 boxes of supporting material that have not been released.

The committee is expected to decide whether to proceed to a formal inquiry before Congress adjourns in early October.

Meanwhile, facing possible impeachment proceedings, Mr Clinton is increasing his White House damage-control team with attorneys and lobbyists experienced in dealing with Congress to deal with the Monica Lewinsky affair.

Mr Greg Craig, a senior State Department official who once worked for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, is expected to join the White House troubleshooting squad headed by John Podesta, the President’s Deputy Chief of Staff, sources said.

Mr Craig is a former law partner of Clinton attorney David Kendall, who has stepped into the spotlight with blistering criticism of independent counsel Kenneth Starr’s report accusing Mr Clinton of perjury, obstruction of justice and abuse of power.

Another likely recruit is Mr Steve Ricchetti, a lobbyist in private practice who once worked for Clinton as a deputy assistant for legislative affairs, lobbying lawmakers on the administration’s behalf. Also expected to return is Susan Brophy, another former Clinton lobbyist on Capitol Hill who had moved overseas with her husband, Gerald McGowan, the U.S. Ambassador to Portugal.

Clinton ‘admitted’ to sex addiction

WASHINGTON, Sept 15 (AFP) — A woman who says she had romantic relations with Bill Clinton for years prior to his Presidency has said that Mr Clinton once admitted to sex addiction.

Speaking on Fox Television yesterday, Ms Dolly Kyle Browning — who has filed a lawsuit against Clinton — said she attended a therapy group for sex addicts in 1998 and spoke to Clinton about it at one point.

“I asked him if he had ever thought about whether he might be a sex addict,” said Ms Browning. “He said I know I am, I’ve tried to overcome it,” reported Ms Browning.

Ms Browning said she met Clinton when she was 11 years old and he was 12 or 13 years old.

They began dating in high school, according to Ms Browning, and since then engaged in “on-again, off-again” sexual relations over a period spanning 30 years. But ending prior to his Presidency.

“He needs to face his underlying problem, which is sex addiction,”, Ms Browning said.

Ms Browning has filed a lawsuit against the President, claiming that she was threatened with a “smear campaign” by Clinton aides as part of an alleged effort by them to prevent her from telling the truth about her relations with him.

Iran puts Army on alert

DUBAI, Sept 15 (PTI) — Iran today put its armed forces on alert with further escalation of the crisis with Afghanistan and sternly warned Pakistan and the Islamic Taliban militia that their actions in the war-ravaged country could spark a “wider war” in the region.

“All officials and those in charge of the country, including the armed forces, must be ready for speedy, timely and decisive implementation of whatever decisions the senior political and security authorities deem necessary and right for the country,” Iran’s supreme leader and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said.

The revolutionary guards, in a statement, said, “the Taliban criminals and their backers should know that the guards .. are ready to take the revenge of the oppressed by revolutionary force.”

The official IRNA news agency said Khamenei termed the situation in Afghanistan as a “highly crucial issue” and told senior commanders of the revolutionary guards, “on the one hand, the issue is of humanitarian concern for us — dealing with the sympathy of our nation for the Afghan people.

“On the other hand, it has an Islamic side, and this relates to (our) sense of obligation. The issue has also a political and national aspect and this implies averting any danger for the nation and the country.”

Earlier, Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar urged negotiations with Iran under UN laws after Teheran’s warning to it and Pakistan.

The independent Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) in Teheran quoted Mullah Omar as urging Iran “to come and sit with us for negotiations to take account under the United Nations laws”.

He told AIP that the UN would blame Iran if it failed to accept the offer and said he was ready to accept mediation but did not elaborate.

Mullah Omar’s olive branch comes after the Iranian Army, which has announced a mega-war game involving over two lakh troops shortly along the Afghan border, also issued a statement saying it was ready “to conduct any mission anywhere”.

In a hard-hitting statement read out on Teheran Radio yesterday, Ayatollah Khamenei had said, “I have ... so far prevented the lighting of a fire in this region which would be hard to extinguish. But all should know that a very great and wide danger is quite near.”

He said such a danger could only be avoided if Pakistan ceased backing the Taliban and the Islamic militia “abandon actions which lead to catastrophe and make up for their past errors.”

The Iranian leadership and the Taliban have been engaged in a wordy duel ever since nine Iranian diplomats and an IRNA journalist were killed by the militia when they captured Mazar-i-Sharif last month.

Enraged by the massacre, Iran has vowed retaliation.

Bodies of seven of the nine Iranians killed by the Taliban were returned to their families late yesterday, BBC’s monitoring service quoted IRNA as saying.

President Mohammad Khatami paid his respects to the slain diplomats at a ceremony at Teheran’s Mehrbad airport, it said.

“I assure you that we will defend the integrity and honour of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the best of our ability,” Mr Khatami was quoted as saying.

Taliban spokesman Mullah Wakil Ahmad termed Ayatollah Khamenei’s statement as a blatant interference in Afghanistan’s internal affairs, and said the language used by the Iranian leader was unbecoming of his status and reflected “his mental ineptitude”.

Pak Islamic groups may seize power

LONDON, Sept 15 (PTI) — Private armies of fundamentalist Islamic groups trained, armed and run by the Pakistan Army have begun to seek a domestic role, fuelling fears of an Army-backed Taliban-style takeover in Pakistan, media reports here said.

The reports quoted leading Opposition leaders as saying attempts by these groups, hitherto projected as “warriors for Jehad in various places such as Afghanistan and Kashmir”, to interfere in internal affairs held sinister portents for the country.

Warnings by umbrella groups such as Markaz Dawat Al Irshad, which runs the Harkat ul Ansar and Lashkar-i-Toiba, to throw out opponents of the Shariah Bill and to the government to stop paying interest on loans, were the first signs of these groups seeking a domestic role, the reports warned.

“Never before had an organisation like Dawat, with a trained army of 30,000 men felt the urge to speak on internal affairs”, daily “News International” warning this could eventually pave the way for these groups to enforce their own agendas in Pakistan in the absence of a strong state.

The report quoted Senator Shafqat Mahmood, a senior Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader as saying these groups had a sinister agenda of their own — of imposing a Taliban-style medievalism in the name of Islam — which would be a puppet front regime of the army.

Till now “these groups were trained to liberate occupied Muslim territories, having absolutely nothing to do with what is happening in Pakistan. In fact, it was on this pretext that they were allowed to impart military training to their men on Pakistani soil,” the report said.

The reports quoted Senator Mahmood as saying “the truth is we have a number of groups operating who are heavily armed and committed to enforcing their agendas. One important segment... wants to impose its version of Islam by force.”

Referring to the recent American Cruise missile strikes on suspected terrorist camps in Afghanistan, Mr Mahmood wrote in an article the “identity of the dead should give us a pause” for soul-searching.

“Most of them were Pakistanis getting military training in these camps. They were sent there by groups claiming to fight for Islam all over the world,” he said.

In a grim warning, the former President of the PPP’s Punjab unit pointed out the “avowed target of these groups were Kashmir and Afghanistan. But, why should it not be Pakistan, the land of their birth.”

Outlining these terror groups’ sinister agenda, Mr Mahmood said, “actually it is not a fight for Islam. It is fight for power masquerading as a fight for Islam.”

Mr Mahmood said most societies have fringe elements with bizarre agendas. But the state is able to control them. They are either co-opted in a sanitised form or eliminated.

“Our problem is that the state structure in Pakistan has almost collapsed. It can no longer act with coherence and its ability to use force is severely blunted. This provides space for these radical groups to grow,” he said.

Other media reports said it is significant that the warning by the Dawat comes amidst growing opposition to the Shariah Bill both within and outside Parliament and a proposal by certain sections to seek a referendum on the bill.

“Should this (referendum) happen, support of Taliban style Islamic groups for the government against opponents of the bill could translate into use of force against ordinary, unarmed citizens — a crucial step farther than Gen. Zia and another step forward in the journey on which the late general decided this country should embark upon,” the reports said.

The reports warned the Pakistani Army, which controls these Islamic terror groups could ultimately achieve its dream of imposing a Taliban-like militant rule over Pakistan — which like Afghanistan would be its own puppet front regime.

Pak Parliament fails to debate on CTBT

ISLAMABAD, Sept 15 (PTI) — The joint session of Pakistan Parliament has once again failed to debate on the country’s stand on the comprehensive test ban treaty (CTBT) with Opposition members remaining unconvinced of the government’s arguments on the disadvantages of not signing it.

The special session, which was suddenly convened last week to finalise the government’s stand on the treaty, once again failed to debate on the issue last evening plunging the 19-month-old Nawaz Sharif government into a crisis.

The failure to discuss the issue was despite the fact that the government had agreed to give a special nearly four-hour briefing to the Opposition parties on the matter during which the country’s leading scientists, including Dr Qadeer Khan also tried to sell the government’s apparent stand to sign the treaty in return for an economic bail out package.

But the Opposition continued to accuse the government of taking a decision on the issue and entering into an understanding with the Americans for signing the treaty.

They charged the government with using Parliament as a rubber stamp for a decision already taken.

The government brought upon itself the CTBT issue as it was already in the thick of a crisis over the proposed 15th Constitutional Amendment for enforcing Islamic law in the country and facing strong opposition not only from all the opposition political parties but also from the extremist religious groups.

US expert urges P-5 to cut nuclear arsenal

NEW DELHI, Sept 15 (PTI) — In a significant departure from the official stand of the USA, a top American expert today said the five nuclear weapons powers (P-5) should engage in "very deep cuts" in their nuclear arsenals and declare no-first-use among themselves within 15 years, as the first step towards global nuclear disarmament.

Ambassador Thomas Graham Jr, who served as special representative of the US President for arms control, non-proliferation and disarmament, also suggested that India, Pakistan and Israel should "roll back" their nuclear programmes, but keep the fissile material under the safeguard of world agencies like the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Speaking at a seminar organised by the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation here, Graham said a worldwide transparent and intrusive inspection system along with the means of its enforcement be evolved during this period.

Calling for immediate action in this direction, he suggested that the five nuclear powers should reduce their arsenals to about 300 for the USA and Russia and about 50 for China, France and the UK within 15 years.

Commenting on Pokhran-II tests, Graham said it was a "natural consequence of what happened" while referring to the refusal of P-5 to adopt no-first use principle. "Leadership of the world's largest democracy should not be underestimated ... It may prove difficult later."

Taslima back in Bangladesh

DHAKA, Sept 15 (PTI) — Controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen has returned here from New York for the first time after she fled the country four years ago amid accusations of blasphemy from Muslim fundamentalists and is living in a secret place, officials said today.

"Yes, she has arrived from New York via London yesterday morning along with her parents by a Bangladesh Biman flight using a normal passport," Mohammad Abdul Hannan, Superintendent of Dhaka International Airport Immigration Police, told PTI.

Doctor and Human Rights activist Nasreen’s novel "Lajja" (shame) raised hackles among fundamentalists who issued a death warrant against her in September, 1993, and she left the country secretly on August 10 the next year apparently to evade prosecution and the threats.

No police patrol or other security activity was noticed when this PTI correspondent visited the Eastern Point Apartment complex at the capital’s downtown Shantinagar area where Nasreen has her residence.

Lankan parents ‘sell’ kids to perverts

COLOMBO, Sept 15 (PTI) — Some Sri Lankan parents, driven by acute poverty and ignorance, are selling their children, specially boys, to paedophiles, two criminologists of the island nation claimed today.

Chaminda Mallawithanarachi and Ranjith Wilwalaarachchi, who have conducted an extensive study into the widespread complaints of sexual abuse of children, specially boys, told the state owned “Daily News” that despite the crackdown by the police in recent months, a coordinated paedophile racket continued to function in the western and southern coast of Sri Lanka.

“It is a completely different world — a world beyond the imagination of an outsider,” they said claiming that most of the parents of male children were well aware that their wards, known as ‘beech boys,’ were being sexually abused.

Saying that in some cases, the parents themselves had sold their children, they said “one parent told us that they were not worried because their boys would not get pregnant. It was clear to us that acute poverty and ignorance led the children to this trade”.

Even though a number of people were arrested recently on charges of sexual abuse of children, there was no well coordinated plan by the government to eradicate the menace, they alleged.

The Sri Lankan Government has recently passed a legislation making the physical abuse of children a cognizable offence.

Yeltsin names scribe Kremlin spokesman

MOSCOW, Sept 15 (AFP) — President Boris Yeltsin today named Mr Dmitry Yakushkin, a journalist, who now works on Russian Television, as his new Kremlin spokesman, Interfax has reported.

Mr Yeltsin had fired his long-time spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky last weekend following a reported Kremlin row over the nomination of Mr Yevgeny Primakov as Prime Minister.

Mr Yakushkin has previously worked in the liberal “Moskovskiye Novosti” daily. His last assignment was with state-controlled RTR television station, the Russian news agency has said.

30 massacred
LUANDA: Thirty persons, mostly diamond traffickers, were killed by armed men at the week-end in North-eastern Angola, government radio said on Monday. The radio blamed rebel troops loyal to Unita leader Jonas Savimbi for the massacre on Sunday in the mining town of Kamatuka, 1,000 km from Luanda. Angolan troops have been sent to the district. — AFP

Family reunited
ROHNERT PARK, (CALIFORNIA): A disabled woman, Kathy White, has rejoined her family after 51 years. She was given up by her parents after her birth in 1947, as she was born with a spinal deformity and other medical problems. She was not expected to live more than two years. Yet she survived and moved from hospital to homes for the disabled. Two months ago, Kathy’s sister Kaleen located her long-lost sibling through a chance conversation. The sisters, lived only blocks from each other here. — AP

Life expectancy
COPENHAGEN: Life expectancy has dipped in Europe for the first time since the end of World War-II — mainly because of poor health and excessive alcohol and cigarette consumption in the former Soviet states and other Eastern European areas. The World Health Organisation (WHO), in a report on Monday said latest available statistics showed the average age had dipped from 73.1 years in 1991 to 72.4 in 1994. The report — Health in Europe — said life expectancy for a child born now in the former Soviet Union was 11 years less than what it was for a child born in Western Europe. — DPA

Pak film pair parts
LAHORE: The famous Pakistani film pair of Reema and Bahar Ali, has finally parted ways and decided not to sign any more films together after serious differences have cropped up between them, sources said. Reema and Bahar were termed as the most favourite film pair since then gave their first hit “Munda Bigra Jai”. — ANI

Rising starvation
JAKARTA: Indonesia’s Food and Horticulture Minister, Mr A.M. Saefuddin, admitted in a published report on Monday that at least 17 million families were facing starvation. The Jakarta Post quoted Mr Saefuddin as saying that in Indonesia’s Central and East Java provinces, 60 per cent of 7.3 million poor families, averaging four persons to a household, could afford only one meal a day, and described the situation as “critical”. The country is facing a financial crisis which has resulted in price rise, unemployment and poverty. — DPA

Junta assails Suu Kyi
YANGON: Myanmar’s Junta today unleashed a volley of criticism at Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi saying she was a bad mother and not even a citizen of Myanmar. The Nobel Peace laureate should be deported, said a commentary in the official ‘Mirror Daily’ a Burmese-language organ of the Junta. Myanmar women traditionally devoted their attention to their families and should continue to do so, it added. — AFP

Ice age
WASHINGTON: In a study published in US Journal Science, scientists Paul Hoffman and Galen Halverson of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, have put forth a theory which points to the deepest ice age in the history of the world. According to the study, 700 million years ago a shield of ice covered the earth from pole to pole making the world a giant snowball, according to them. They analysed different forms (isotopes) of the element carron in stone from a former seabed today situated in the Namir desert. Their data showed that for one million years there was no photosynthesis.— DPA