Iran-Taliban conflict: Pact on UN envoy for defusing crisis
UNITED NATIONS, Sept 22 — The neighbours of Afghanistan along with the USA and Russia agreed to send a UN envoy to the region in a bid to reduce tension between Iran and the Taliban.

Amnesty seeks Anwar’s release
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 22 — Amnesty International has called on the Malaysian authorities to promptly charge or release deposed Deputy Premier Anwar Ibrahim and his associates.

Foreign troops enter Lesotho to quell stir
MASERU (Lesotho), Sept 22 — South African and Botswanan troops crossed yesterday into Lesotho to quell unrest and fought a gunbattle with troops loyal to the opposition outside the Royal Palace, news reports said.

Consensus emerging against sanctions

WASHINGTON, Sept 22 (PTI) — A top US Congressman has said there is a growing consensus to allow President Bill Clinton the authority to waive some of the sanctions against India imposed after it conducted nuclear tests in May this year.

“There is a growing bipartisan consensus to allow Mr Clinton the authority to waive some of the sanctions against India,” Mr Frank Pallone said yesterday in a statement.

Mr Pallone said he was circulating a letter among the India caucus members calling on the members of the House — Senate Agriculture Appropriations Conference to approve the language in the Senate allowing the President to waive the sanctions.

He also pointed to a decision by anti-Indian Congressman Dan Burton to abandon this year his annual practice of moving an amendment to deny or cut aid to India.

This was “an important victory” for supporters of India, he said.

Mr Pallone’s office said he and his India caucus colleagues were prepared to fight, on a bipartisan basis, Mr Burton’s annual efforts to cut aid to New Delhi as a punitive measure.

Mr Burton had submitted three different amendments relating to limitations on assistance to India. But when the Bill came to the House floor on September 17, Mr Burton did not seek recognition to offer the amendment.

Mr Pallone had testified before the House Rules Committee on September 16 in opposition to the Burton Amendment. In addition, he and several of his India caucus colleagues had circulated letters warning members of Congress of the possibility of the Burton Amendment and outlining reasons to oppose the measure.

“Last year,” Mr Pallone noted, “a similar amendment was defeated by a vote of 82-342. Since then, sanctions have been imposed on India because of nuclear tests, with humanitarian aid exempted from the sanctions.

“That means the only assistance programmes left for Mr Burton to go after were humanitarian programmes such as child survival, family planning and health programmes. Clearly, the effect of his amendment would have been to punish India’s poor without having any effect on Indian government policy.”

“Furthermore, India and the USA are in the midst of high level talks to resolve many of the outstanding issues between our two countries, including nuclear proliferation. At a time of significant progress, this would have been the worst time to go after India with a punitive, gratuitous slap like this. An amendment like this would be way out of step with progress towards greater co-operation and confidence-building.”

Yeltsin’s powers may be cut

MOSCOW, Sept 22 (UNI) — A beleaguered President Boris Yeltsin, confronted with a mounting public campaign for his ouster, now also faces the prospects of his constitutional powers being curtailed .

Various factions in the Russian Duma have decided to introduce major amendments in the constitution aimed at depriving the President of unrestrained powers.

According to the daily Izvestia, the Duma lawmakers are seeking powers to endorse not only their candidates for the Prime Minister’s post, but also to place men of their choice in defence, interior, foreign and other key ministries. This will make the convening of a new Constituent Assembly inevitable, the Izvestia says.

According to the daily, the most significant component of the package of constitutional amendments is related to the process of impeachment of the President. In order to simplify the legal process to put the President on trial for “crimes committed during his tenure”, the Duma plans to move an amendment seeking to change the term “bring charges” against the President into “initiating proceedings”.

The move comes at a time when the Kremlin is already unnerved by the planned all-union protest day on October 7, sponsored by the Communists and their Left allies. According to the Voice of Russia, one of the main aims of the protest day is to seek removal of Mr Yeltsin himself .

The President fears that the public campaign for his exit may evoke support from the army, the Rio Novostsi reports.

The President’s apprehensions are based on the fact that the servicemen have not received their salaries for the past three months and have not been paid their food allowance, house rent allowance and leave pay. For several years now. Altogether, the state owes them 16 to 19 billion roubles. Despite Kremlin’s assurance that the arrears will be cleared this month itself, the defence analysts point out that the task is an impossible one.

No wonder, the armymen are a disenchanted lot. According to the news agency, some units of the armed forces have already started staging public demonstrations in open defiance of the army discipline. In fact, the wives of air force officers, one step ahead of their husbands, are resorting to blockades on runways to prevent aeroplanes from taking off in the Leningrad military district.

To add to the government woes, the new Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov is faced with the distressing problem of saving Russia from disintegrating into independent republics.

In view of the tottering economy, some of the rich regions of Russia have threatened the centre that they will stop contributing money to the federal budget and, if need be, proclaim their independence from the Russian federation in the similar way as Soviet republics broke away from the erstwhile Soviet Union in 1991.

It is in this context that Interior Minister Sergei Stepashin has warned that Kremlin will not compromise on the territorial integrity of the nation. He was referring to the situation in Caucasus and Siberia, where the secessionist forces are raising their heads.

The clamour for sovereignty among many Governors has been described by media columnist Oleg Odnokolenko as a “dress rehearsal for Russia’s disintegration”.

‘No talk on CTBT until sanctions go’

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 22 (PTI) — Pakistan premier Nawaz Sharif has assured US President Bill Clinton that he would have a “positive statement” to make about the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) when he addresses the UN General Assembly later this week, a top US official said.

Briefing newsmen last night on the Sharif-Clinton meeting earlier in the day, Mr Clinton’s National Security Adviser Sandy Berger said Mr Sharif assured Mr Clinton of a “positive statement” on the CTBT during his address to the UN on September 23. He declined to give any details.

AP adds: Mr Nawaz Sharif has told Mr Bill Clinton that his country will refuse to discuss signing the CTBT until international sanctions and pressures — imposed after Pakistan tested nuclear weapons — are removed.

Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary, Mr Shamshad Ahmad said the meeting yesterday, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, also focused on Kashmir.

“President Clinton expressed full understanding of the Kashmir problem and asked how he could help,’’ Mr Ahmad told reporters.

Mr Sharif is slated to meet with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee tomorrow at the United Nations.

According to UNI, Mr Bill Clinton told the Pakistan Prime Minister, Mr Nawaz Sharif, during their bilateral talks here yesterday, that the USA was willing to help in resolving the Kashmir issue, but reminded the Pakistan leader that India had taken the consistent position that it did not favour outside mediation or outside participation.

A State Department spokesman described the Clinton-Sharif talks as ‘positive’ and said the two leaders talked about Kashmir, non-proliferation and the economic situation in Pakistan.

Pakistani sources said Mr Sharif told President Clinton that Islamabad was not against the CTBT but economic sanctions imposed on Pakistan by the USA were proving counterproductive.

Asked by an Indian journalist why no meeting between President Clinton and the Indian Prime Minister had been scheduled, Mr Burger said he believed the Indian leader was not arriving in New York until later this week and apart from that, while there was progress in talks with Pakistan on the CTBT, there was still some room left for further progress in the Indo-US talks.

Temptation to watch was irresistible

SEATTLE, Sept 22 (AP) — Some said they were embarrassed for the President, or weary of yet more lurid detail, or disgusted by the whole affair — but woe to anyone who tried to change the channel.

“You can’t not watch this,” said Andy King (23) as he sat watching President Bill Clinton’s grand jury testimony in a TV lounge at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. “It’s on the front page of every newspaper. It’s on every station. It is historical.”

And so Americans watched, and passed judgement. There were few surprises in the footage of Mr Clinton’s testimony about his affair with Monica Lewinsky. But it wasn’t what Mr Clinton said so much as how he said it that many people noticed.

Attorney Bill Schwartz tuned in while exercising at a health club in Sacramento, California. The sound was off, so the 52-year-old Schwartz observed Mr Clinton’s demeanour with an attorney’s eye. He didn’t like what he saw.

“I think he blinks a lot,” Mr Schwartz said. “I think he’s uncooperative, he’s squirming. He’s a nightmare witness.”

Ms Galina Lyons, 45, a Civil Service Secretary, watched Mr Clinton at the airport in Norfolk, Virginia. She said the President looked like he was trying to get out of it.

At one point, she walked away from the TV screen in disgust.

Some viewers thought Mr Clinton held up well under the unrelenting questions posed by prosecutors off-screen.

“I can’t make a final judgement about whether he’s lying, but he looks good,” said Mr Mark Croston (39) a Baptist pastor from Suffolk, Virginia. “He seems calm, perhaps a little irritated because the guy keeps asking him the same questions over and over. His eyes are clear, focused.”

Mr Clinton’s supporters conceded, however, that it was not a good day for the President.

In Mr Clinton’s boyhood hometown of Hot Springs, Arkansas, the television was turned up at Hester’s Restaurant so customers could watch Mr Clinton’s testimony while they ate breakfast.

But owner Charles Atkerson said he would not watch a minute of it himself. “The American people are not stupid any more. They know the Republican Party is behind all of this,” Mr Atkerson said. “They’ve spent 40 million dollars of the taxpayers’ money just to satisfy themselves. The people don’t care.”

Tale of a tie

WASHINGTON, Sept 22 (AP) — Give the President a tie and there’s no telling who will end up wearing it.

US President Bill Clinton testified to the Kenneth Starr inquiry that he periodically goes through his closet and gives away 30 or more of his ties a year to the White House staff and that’s not counting Christmas.

That’s why a White House aide might have ended up wearing the first tie given to him by Monica Lewinsky, he said.

Ms Lewinsky testified she had conflicting thoughts when she saw the tie on someone else. One thought was, “You jerk. You’re trying to show me how little you care about me.” But she said it also could have been part of a game played by the President.

Another tie, a yellow number, Ms Lewinsky says she gave him for his 50th birthday, was worn by the President in a rose garden ceremony the day the former intern testified to the grand jury.

Ms Lewinsky said she saw that as a hidden message from the President, as if he were telling her: “I understand you had to do what you had to do.”

But Mr Clinton, shown a photo of the tie, said he did not recall getting that one from her and he seemed to be fighting off the urge to laugh.

In a transcript of her testimony, given before Mr Clinton’s but also released yesterday, Ms Lewinsky said he must have remembered the tie because she always bugged him about wearing ones that she gave him.

She would tell him, “I like it when you wear my ties because then I know I’m close to your heart, she said, literally and figuratively.”

Iran-Taliban conflict
Pact on UN envoy for defusing crisis

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 22 (AFP) — The neighbours of Afghanistan along with the USA and Russia agreed to send a UN envoy to the region in a bid to reduce tension between Iran and the Taliban.

UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi yesterday told journalists he could go to the area in early October along with the Secretary-General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.

The decision came out of a meeting of representatives from Iran, Pakistan, China, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, along with the USA and Russia who met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called the so-called “six plus two” session in a bid to defuse tensions between Iran and the Taliban militia after the killing of nine Iranian diplomats in northern Afghanistan.

A joint statement from the meeting called on the Taliban and warring opposition factions in Afghanistan to “declare a immediate ceasefire and undertake negotiations to achieve a political settlement.”

The group also called on the UN to investigate Iranian reports of “mass killings and mass graves in Afghanistan.”

“All parties in the region should exercise maximum restraint and resolve their disputes peacefully,” it said.

Iran has gathered its troops on the Afghan border and has threatened military action if the Taliban do not release 40 Iranian envoys they captured when taking the opposition stronghold of Mazar-i-Sharif.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has called for all parties involved in the Afghanistan conflict to hold negotiations under UN and Islamic auspices.

In a speech to the UN General Assembly yesterday, Mr Khatami said that the negotiations should be aimed at securing agreement on a “broad-based government, representing all ethnic groups, communities and tendencies in that country.”

“That is the only way to restore tranquility in Afghanistan,” he told the half-empty hall.

Amnesty seeks Anwar’s release

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 22 (AFP) — Amnesty International has called on the Malaysian authorities to promptly charge or release deposed Deputy Premier Anwar Ibrahim and his associates.

In a statement released late yesterday the rights group also said the government should allow Malaysians to stage peaceful demonstrations.

Amnesty said the authorities should quickly bring a recognised criminal charge against Mr Anwar, who was sacked as Deputy Premier on September 2 and detained on Sunday, or release him, instead of relying on the Internal Security Act (ISA).

“In light of events leading to their arrest and the past misuse of the ISA for political purposes, Amnesty International is concerned that Mr Anwar Ibrahim and the other detainees are being held solely because of their critical political views and are possible prisoners of conscience,” the statement said.

According to newspaper reports, 11 associates have also been held under the ISA.

Meanwhile, the wife of detained former Deputy Premier today said she had been ordered not to speak at public rallies but would still press his campaign for reforms.

Foreign troops enter Lesotho to quell stir

MASERU (Lesotho), Sept 22 (AP) — South African and Botswanan troops crossed yesterday into Lesotho to quell unrest and fought a gunbattle with troops loyal to the opposition outside the Royal Palace, news reports said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The mobilisation caps weeks of unrest by opposition demonstrators which has paralysed the government of this tiny mountain kingdom surrounded by South Africa. The opposition charges the May elections swept by the Lesotho Congress Party were rigged.

Some 600 troops, at the request of the Prime Minister of this tiny mountain kingdom, entered at 5 a.m. (local time), the South African Press Association said, quoting a government statement.

Radio reported gunfire outside the palace of King Leksie III involving the troops and dissident army troops.

A faction of the army rebelled 11 days ago, deposing the leadership — apparently loyal to the government — and the new commanders had refrained from restoring order in the streets.

Tajik leader shot
DUSHANBE: Tajikistan opposition leader Otakhon Latifi was gunned down outside his home in the capital here on Tuesday, a police spokesman said. A former Vice-Premier of Tajikistan, Latifi, (63), was a leader in the country’s democratic opposition movement. He had returned to Dushanbe last year after five years in Iran. — AFP

Suharto questioned
JAKARTA: Former Indonesian President Suharto, whose family is accused of amassing a fortune during his long rule, has been questioned by senior officials over his wealth, a government official said on Tuesday. It was the first time that Suharto, in power for 32 years until growing protest and economic crisis forced him to step down in May, has been officially probed over allegations of corruption during his rule. — Reuters

Hurricane strikes
SAN JUAN (Puerto Rico): Hurricane Georges, one of the most powerful storms to hit the Caribbean in years, killed three persons in a Puerto Rico landslide on Monday as it swept across the island packing howling winds of up to 110 mph (180 kph). Georges also killed a resident of St. Kitts, which suffered extensive damage along with the nearby islands of Antigua and St. Croix. It toppled power lines, mangled trees, smashed hotel windows and ripped roofs off homes. President Clinton declared Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands disaster areas. — AP

Whale species
AUCKLAND: The Southern Right Whale, once on the verge of extinction, is making a comeback, according to New Zealand scientists. The use of explosive-tipped Harpoons almost exterminated many whale species between the 1880s and the 1960s. The Right Whale was given that name by whalers because it floated after being killed, making it easy to retrieve and butcher. The New Zealand scientific team recorded 165 whales in a single day and probably 250 in total. — AP

37 die in mishap
DUBAI: At least 37 persons were killed and 12 injured in a bus accident in Hama, some 150 km north of Damascus, the Syrian news agency SANA reported. The accident occurred on Monday when the driver lost control and rammed the bus into a bridge. It, however, added that the driver escaped miraculously with no injuries. — PTI