Indian Navy to buy copters from Russia
LONDON, Aug 25 — The Indian Navy is buying four Kamov KA-31 helicopters from Russia for about $ 92 million for the three new Krivak-III frigates it is buying from Moscow and for the aircraft carrier INS Viraat.

Frozen body found in glacier
VANCOUVER, Aug 25 — The discovery of a well-preserved iceman frozen in a glacier has archaeologists and Indians excited over what secrets he may reveal about the past to the present.

Spy probe
US official quits charging ‘laxity’
WASHINGTON, Aug 24 — Mr Notra Trulock, the American intelligence official who triggered a federal investigation into suspected Chinese espionage at US nuclear weapons laboratories, has resigned charging “laxity” in dealing with the problem.

Iranian paper takes dig at Clinton
TEHERAN, Aug 25 — An Iranian newspaper took a subtle dig at US President Bill Clinton by publishing a front-page picture of the leader kissing his dog, an animal considered impure by Islam and banned from Iran’s streets.

Over 2 lakh remain homeless in Turkey
YALOVA (Turkey), Aug 25 — Turkey today scaled down the death toll from last week’s earthquake by over 5,000 to 12,514, acknowledging an error in its calculations.

1,000 killed as Russia storms strongholds

TANDO, Russia, Aug 25 (AFP) — Russian troops stormed the last rebel strongholds in the battle-scarred mountains of Dagestan in an all-out offensive to crush an uprising that Moscow said had left more than 1,000 Muslim insurgents dead.

The final push against the Chechen-based guerrillas, who had proclaimed Dagestan an independent Islamic state marked an important political victory for the two-week-old government of Premier Vladimir Putin.

Moscow’s new leaders had vowed to stamp out the rebellion by radical, self-proclaimed Wahhabi Islamic militants before it spread to neighbouring Muslim regions and engulfed Russia’s volatile southern flank.

Still, the initial reported toll of the latest fighting between Russian forces and separatist Islamists was significant, and the rebels claimed to have taken up "new positions" in Dagestan for a "new phase in the fight."

General Vladimir Kazantsev, in charge of the northern Caucasus, yesterday said Russian troops had killed more than 1,000 insurgents while suffering 59 dead and 210 wounded over the 18-day-old guerrilla war.

But the rebels maintain they lost only 42 fighters, while killing 1,200 Russian soldiers, said a communiqué issued by their press centre in Grozny, Chechnya.

"We have freed Tando and raised a Russian flak there," General Kazantsev said.

Another top Russian General earlier said bombers and artillery fire had "completely crushed" gunmen holed up in the tiny village — the scene of the fiercest fighting in the region since the 1994-96 Chechen war which killed 80,000 people.

"We have liberated Oshino and Rakhata, and we are clearing out Ansalta and Shadrada," General Kazantsev added.

PISHKEK (Reuters): The worst of the security crisis in Dagestan in over with Russian soldiers having pushed back rebel fighters from several mountain villages, Russian Defence Minister Ibor Sergeyev said on Wednesday.

"The situation (in Degestan) is a lot better than it was three days ago", — Mr Sergeyev told Reuters in an interview in Rishkek, where the leaders of Russia, China and three Central Asian states are holding a two-day summit.

MOSCOW: (UNI): The surprise attack by the Tajik rebels in Kyrgyzstan, the ongoing war in Dagestan and the presence of the Taliban in these war zones is being conceived as a "shift to terrorist Osama bin Laden's operational headquarters from Afghanistan to Russia's volatile zones", state-owned radio Voice of Russia reported.

The radio said Islamic fundamentalism was rapidly spreading in Russia's south, beginning from Chechnya, the breakaway republic of the Russian Federation.

The radio had earlier quoted the Chairman of the Russian Duma's committee for the nationalities affairs, Mr Valentin Zorin, admitting that "clearing of the terrorists from the mountain areas of Degestan will not be completed in a few days or weeks".

Russia, China vow to fight separatism
From Mike Collett-White

BISHKEK, Aug 25 — Russian President Boris Yeltsin and the leaders of China and three Central Asian nations today held talks as host Kyrgyzstan battled marauding gunmen in the south.

President Yeltsin and Chinese President Jiang Zemin also stressed their aim of building a “strategic partnership’’ to counter perceived US domination of the post-cold war world order.

Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan form the Shanghai Five, named after the Chinese city where a 1996 treaty on easing border tensions was signed.

“This (grouping) is a good basis for five-sided coordination on many international problems”, a robust-looking Boris Yeltsin said during the signing ceremony of a summit declaration. “Russia has a strategic interest in the security of the Asiatic region”.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov described the Presidents’ meeting as “very warm” and told reporters they had discussed developing a strategic Moscow-Beijing partnership.

“Our relations are on the up,” Mr Ivanov said. “China and Russia will work together very closely in the international arena in the interests of peace and security.”

In a draft declaration, Mr Yeltsin, Mr Jiang and the leaders of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan pledged to fight terrorism and drug smuggling, expressed concern about nearby war-torn Afghanistan and said the 1996 treaty paved the way for greater regional stability.

“The (1996) agreements on settling border problems and increasing trust in the military area...Help strengthen neighbourliness and friendship,” said the draft declaration, due to be signed by the five leaders later.

The draft also commits the leaders to respect each others’ territorial integrity and to cooperate in the fight against separatism — a sensitive issue for both Moscow and Beijing.

Moscow has been struggling to quell a Muslim uprising in its southern Dagestan region while Beijing remains locked in a war of words with independence-minded Taiwan and is also anxious to combat separatism in Tibet and among the Muslim, Turkish-speaking Uighurs of its Xinjiang province which borders Kazakhstan.

Closing the two-day summit, host Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev said the republics of former Soviet Central Asia welcomed a more active regional role for Moscow and Beijing.

“Kyrgyzstan believes Russia and China have an important role as guarantors of stability in the region and the wider world”, he stated.

The declaration commits the five leaders to uphold current borders and to clamp down on separatist groups operating on their territory. It also supports keeping Central Asia free of nuclear weapons.

Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev has had a more immediate problem on his hands in the past two days — ending a security crisis in the remote south of his mountainous nation. There, Kyrgyz troops are fighting around 150 gunmen, who have kidnapped seven people, including four Japanese geologists.

Mr Askar’s spokesman, Mr Kanybek Imanaliyev, said yesterday that government troops had killed 10 gunmen of a force of 150 to 170 fighters overnight. Of about 300 government troops, three were seriously wounded, and three others lightly. The fate of the hostages was not known.

The crisis in the remote region has embarrassed Mr Akayev who sacked his Defence Minister for failing to cope with the country’s second hostage-taking in a month.

Officials yesterday said more gunmen had crossed from neighbouring Tajikistan, although the exact number and their identity was a mystery.

Mr Yeltsin briefed China on the recent Russian-US disarmament talks, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said.

The Interfax news agency quoted Mr Ivanov as saying that Moscow regarded US demands on the amendment of the arm accords of 1972 on limiting anti-missile systems as a “threat to strategic stability”.

The US had announced plans to build a national anti-missile system to protect itself from nuclear attacks from such states as Iraq and North Korea.

Mr Ivanov played down a statement made by Mr Yeltsin yesterday when he said he was ready “for a battle with everyone — especially with the west.” Mr Ivanov said Mr Yeltsin had meant Russia’s “active struggle” for a multi-polar world order. Russia, China and many other countries favoured a world order in which the interests of all states were respected, Mr Ivanov said, alluding to the US superpower role. — Reuters

Anwar assailant’s trial put off

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 (Reuters) — A Malaysian judge today postponed until next year the trial of a former police chief who admitted hitting jailed former Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim in custody.

The trial of former Inspector-General of Police Abdul Rahim Noor, indicted in April for attempting to cause grievous hurt to Mr Anwar while in custody, had initially been set to begin on September 20 - exactly one year from the date of the assault.

But sessions court judge Akhtar Tahir today fixed the start of the trial for March 6 after saying he would be attending a conference for judiciary officers from September 20 to 22, the official Bernama news agency said.

Mr Akhtar replaced judge Hamdan Indah, who had set the September starting date, as presiding judge.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who was Home Minister in charge of the police when Mr Anwar was hit, is widely expected to call general elections, due by June, 2000, before the end of this year.

Mr Anwar said he was beaten until unconscious while blindfolded and handcuffed in federal police headquarters after he was arrested at his suburban home in September.

Indian Navy to buy copters from Russia

LONDON, Aug 25 (PTI) — The Indian Navy is buying four Kamov KA-31 helicopters from Russia for about $ 92 million for the three new Krivak-III frigates it is buying from Moscow and for the aircraft carrier INS Viraat.

Jane’s Defence Weekly, quoting Indian defence sources reported that the contract for the KA-31 ended nearly three years of negotiations for the airborne early warning helicopters for the Navy. They will be delivered early next year, at the same time that Krivak-III frigates are scheduled to arrive.

The KA-31s would be deployed aboard the planned 24,000 tonne air defence ship and the Admiral Gorshkov, the 44,500 tonne Russian aircraft carrier, which the Navy plans to acquire from Moscow.

The KA-31, which is capable of tracking up to 20 targets simultaneously, has an optimum surveillance radius of 81n miles for fighter sized targets and 135n miles for surface vessels.

Frozen body found in glacier

VANCOUVER, Aug 25 (Reuters) — The discovery of a well-preserved iceman frozen in a glacier has archaeologists and Indians excited over what secrets he may reveal about the past to the present.

Officials said tools and clothing associated with the preserved body indicate the man died in a fall before Europeans arrived in the region. But they stressed it was too early to give an accurate estimate on the age of the remains.

“This person will have much to tell us, to help us understand our past, and the history of our homeland,” leaders of the Champagne and Aishihik first nations said in a press note announcing the discovery.

Extensive trading contact between Europeans and Indians in this region of Canada only began in the late 1700s, but people have lived in the region for at least 10,000 years, archaeologists believe.

The remains were found in early August by hunters crossing a glacier in Tatchenshini-Alsek Park, which is located in extreme north-western British Columbia not far from the Yukon and Alaska borders.

Preliminary evidence indicated the remains were those of a man who died from a fall into a glacier crevasse. Because of the ice, the victim’s soft tissue, such as skin and muscles were still preserved.

Although intact ancient bodies have been found in the Alps, Andes, Siberia and arctic Canada, this discovery is the first of its kind in the western Canadian mountains, officials said.

A research team, including tribal members, removed the remains on Monday to Whitehorse, Yukon.

Officials said study of the remains would be conducted differently from that on a body of an ancient shepherd found in 1991 in a glacier on the Italy-Austria border, because the study work must take into account Indian cultural concerns.

Spy probe
US official quits charging ‘laxity’

WASHINGTON, Aug 24 (PTI) — Mr Notra Trulock, the American intelligence official who triggered a federal investigation into suspected Chinese espionage at US nuclear weapons laboratories, has resigned charging “laxity” in dealing with the problem.

Mr Trulock said in an interview to The Washington Post yesterday that he quit because the Department of Energy’s Inspector-General, in a report issued last week, failed to back him up and hold senior Clinton administration officials accountable for security failures at Los Alamos.

He called the report “a whitewash” and said: “I think the time has come for me to move on. I have done all I could do here.”

The disclosure that Chinese espionage, and secrets transferred to China by private American companies, have netted for Beijing the deepest secrets of all of America’s nuclear weapons has been extremely embarrassing to the Clinton administration.

Iranian paper takes dig at Clinton

TEHERAN, Aug 25 (AFP) — An Iranian newspaper took a subtle dig at US President Bill Clinton by publishing a front-page picture of the leader kissing his dog, an animal considered impure by Islam and banned from Iran’s streets.

The Neshat paper yesterday, prominently displayed the President of Iran’s arch-enemy in a lip-lock with his black Labrador Buddy after Mr Clinton celebrated his 53rd birthday in Washington.

In 1994 the Teheran municipality banned walking of dogs in public for “religious and hygienic reasons” and Iranians frequently throw stones at canines if they see them in the streets.

Over 2 lakh remain homeless in Turkey

YALOVA (Turkey), Aug 25 (Reuters) — Turkey today scaled down the death toll from last week’s earthquake by over 5,000 to 12,514, acknowledging an error in its calculations.

An official at the country’s main crisis centre said a mistake had been made in counting the dead in the worst-hit province of Kocaeli. Yesterday the centre had raised the toll to 17,997.

More than a week after a devastating tremor ripped through north-west Turkey, the authorities stepped up efforts to rebuild wrecked lives and towns. Some 200,000 homeless were holed up in tent cities.

Wary of the risks of infectious disease, the crisis centre issued orders to raze and cart off the debris from thousands of collapsed buildings, many still containing trapped bodies.

The decision signalled the start of a new phase in the relief effort after week-long search and rescue operations, many of which were conducted by international teams.

Fishermen missing
DAKAR (Senegal): More than 70 fishermen were missing after a tropical storm struck off the southern coast of Senagal last week, killing at least 16 persons, the army said. Tropical storm Cindy hit a fleet of fishing canoes as it passed through the area last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. — AP

Lennon’s guitar
LONDON: The guitar which convinced John Lennon to invite Paul McCartney to join his band will be auctioned next month for an estimated £ 100,000, The Guardian reported. If Sotheby’s estimate for the “cherry sunburst-coloured” Gallotone Champion guitar was met, it would make it the most expensive item of early Beatles memorabilia, it said on Tuesday. — AFP

Robertson made peer
LONDON: British Defence Secretary George Robertson, NATO’s incoming Secretary General, has been created a peer, Prime Minister Tony Blair’s office announced. He would be known as Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, Downing Street said on Tuesday, but would remain Defence Secretary for the time being. — AFP

‘Ditch sex, live longer’
JOHANNESBURG: South African Nicklaas Amsterdam celebrated his 112th birthday, vowing that a life without sex had worked wonders for him. “I have never had a woman to give me a headache,” he said on Monday. “That’s how I got to live so long. I have never wanted a partner...and I honoured my father and mother so God could spare my life.” — Reuters

Teenager guilty
ROCKVILLE (USA): A US teenager who sparked a bitter extradition battle between the USA and Israel has agreed to plead guilty in an Israeli court to a gruesome murder committed two years ago near Washington, the local authorities said. But Montgomery County, Maryland, officials reacted with anger to the news that prosecutors would recommend a sentence of only 24 years for Samuel Sheinbein, who would be eligible for parole in 14 years and weekend furloughs from prison within just four years. — DPA

Indian student dead
LEXINGTON (USA): The death of a Indian student at a university of Kentucky laboratory has been ruled as suicide, officials said. Zuber Deshmukh (25), of Mumbai died from asphyxiation due to cyanide toxicity, coroner’s officials said on Tuesday. No other details were released. Deshmukh was buried on Tuesday. —AP

Sex offender
LONDON: A 10-year-old boy became one of the youngest to be put on Britain’s sex offenders’ register when he was convicted of assaulting an eight-year-old female classmate. The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was also on Monday put on a three-year supervision order. — AFP

Paintings recovered
COPENHAGEN: The Danish police has recovered Rembrandt’s “Portrait of a Lady” and another painting, by the Italian master Bellini, both stolen from an art museum north of Copenhagen on January 29, Ritzau news agency said. Two men were arrested in connection with the theft on Tuesday. — Reuters