Hostages in plane hijack released
BARCELONA, Aug 26 — All 79 passengers and nine crew members were released early today from a hijacked Royal Air Maroc airliner forced to land in Spain, but the plane’s captain was still being held, an official said.

30 boys involved in gang-rape
PORT MORESBY, Aug 26 — More than 30 boys allegedly took part in the gang rape of girls at a high school in Papua New Guinea’s Western Province, the police said today.

Congress powers in Venezuela cut
CARACAS (Venezuela), Aug 26 — The Constitutional Assembly, controlled by supporters of President Hugo Chavez, declared a legislative emergency in Venezuela, usurping a majority of the Congress’ function.

Fight against terrorism
India calls for global cooperation

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 26 (PTI) — India has called for international cooperation to fight the global menace of terrorism and misuse of educational and religious institutions to end the practice of recruiting children as mercenaries in armed conflicts.

Without naming Pakistan, its UN Ambassador, Mr Kamlesh Sharma, said in "our region" some schools and seminaries were being misused to instil in young impressionable minds negative passions of hatred and intolerance.

"These youngsters are then sent to Afghanistan and elsewhere as cannon fodder. Those who survive have skills for nothing else. Stopping educational institutions from being misused would be a check on the recruitment of children — whose lives are blighted or extinguished before they can flower — as mercenaries," he said.

Terrorists and others of their ilk, he pointed out, had no interest in humanitarian law or in international standards and local norms of behaviours.

Participating in the Security Council debate on children in armed conflicts yesterday, Mr Sharma stressed on the need to address the broader question of destitution and desperation that, he said, claimed even more lives than armed conflicts. Also, these often paved the way for a fresh cycle of violence, he added.

Another point Mr Sharma emphasised was the need to control traffic in small and light arms which often provoked and sustained conflicts.

Referring to the debate on the issue of the international community insisting on access to populations in need, the Indian Ambassador cautioned that it was a complex question to which there were no simple answers.

Rejecting the Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights expressing its firmest conviction that humanitarian intervention be carried out by threat of use of force, Mr Sharma said it was judicially totally unfounded under current general international law.

Consequently, it could not be "considered as a justification for violation of the principle of jus cogens" enshrined in the UN charter, he said.

Mr Sharma said children must not be recruited for warfare and democratic governments did not do that. But this was not the case with the "real culprits", the non-state actors — armed rebels, insurgents outfits and terrorist organisations — which recruited children.

This, he told the council, was the crux of the problem and must be addressed. But the council was "apparently as impotent as any other body when it comes to hold these malign forces accountable."

"Regrettably, international cooperation on the global menace of terrorism either does not exist or is inadequate," he said.

Stressing that this was "perhaps the most insidious and serious" threat to the security of all states, Mr Sharma said the council must consider ways to stop terrorists and warlords from using children in armed conflicts.

"Frequently, these groups have state sponsors without whose support they would not be able to survive. Suitable council action against phenomenon would be appropriate," he told the members.

While dealing with terrorists, criminals and others who use violence, the humanitarian agencies, Mr Sharma said, should not confer on them the status of negotiating partner as they sought to undermine governments through force.

Jakarta prepares for evacuation

JAKARTA, Aug 26 (DPA) — Fearing bloodshed in East Timor after next Monday’s independence referendum, Indonesian authorities are preparing for a mass evacuation of residents wanting to leave the former Portuguese colony, reports said today.

Col Noer Muis, the newly installed chief of the East Timor military district, said the government and military were getting ready to evacuate people by air, sea and land.

“The navy will prepare its warships, the air force will provide its cargo aircraft and land transportation will stand by to evacuate those seeking to get out of the territory,” The Jakarta Post quoted Colonel Muis as saying.

Next Monday, 450,000 voters are due to cast their ballots to choose between wide-ranging autonomy within Indonesia and total independence for the territory, which was invaded by Indonesian troops in 1975.

The Colonel’s remarks came after local leaders voiced concern over a possible bloodbath following the UN-supervised ballot.

Colonel Muis said 20,000 troops would help supervise the ballot.

The town of Atambua in Indonesian West Timor would be the main gateway out of the territory by land, he said.

Mr Muis agreed that renewed civil war was likely, regardless of the outcome of the ballot — autonomy under Indonesian rule or independence.

DILI (Indonesia): The UN chaired a secret meeting between East Timor’s guerrilla commander and the local Indonesian military chief, a spokesman said today, as thousands of anti-independence demonstrators took to the streets of the territory’s capital.

East Timorese will vote for their future on Monday in a UN-supervised ballot that will offer them the choice of full independence or becoming an autonomous region within Indonesia which invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975.

UN spokesman David Wimhurst, said the meeting between Taur Matan Ruak, the chief of the separatist Falintil force, and Col. Noe Muis, East Timor’s Indonesian military commander, was the first of its kind.

Window on Pakistan
Pak anxiety over N-issue

As is obvious, the draft of India's nuclear doctrine, made public on August 17 by the National Security Advisory Board, has evoked sharp reactions in Pakistan. Islamabad may come out with its own doctrine anytime now. The nuclear issue seems to have replaced Kashmir as the most sought-after subject of discussion in the newspaper columns there. The debate centres round what should be Pakistan's response and what will be the ultimate outcome of the nuclear power-related developments in this part of Asia. A close study of the opinions expressed helps one understand the thinking in Pakistan vis-a-vis the nuclear issue.

The most meaningful comment one could come across was by Mr Najum Mushtaq carried in The News on August 22: "The most shocking aspect of a nuclear strategy is the inhuman indifference with which the strategists reduce living beings into dead and dispensable numbers..... As Pakistan is in the habit of matching whatever India does weapon-wise, we know what to expect from our decision-makers, who, in any case, are always ready to axe development expenditure to finance the country's defence (projects). In the South Asian context, where a majority of the world's poor, malnourished and illiterates live, it is amazing how a handful of people thrive on a lethal blend of nationalism and nuclear weapons. To justify the myths of nuclearised peace and security, they juggle with numbers and types of weapons and even issue threats (implicit in all deterrence models) to wipe out entire cities and their inhabitants."

The Dawn of Karachi on August 24 published a detailed study by Mr Tanvir Ahmed Khan of the nuclear power capability of India and Pakistan and its implications. The writer says: "As already affirmed by its Foreign Secretary, Pakistan cannot be indifferent to these inescapable implications of the Indian nuclear policy. The net result is that South Asia is now poised for a big stride towards nuclear weapons becoming an integral part of its strategic calculus. India has categorically linked any reversal of its nuclear posture to universal nuclear disarmament. In doing so, it drastically limits Pakistan's options just as it has done at various milestones on South Asia's march to nuclearisation. Henceforth, the parameters of decision-making would have to be deterrence stability and crisis management rather than any significant shift towards de-nuclearisation."

Mr Tanveer Khan goes on to suggest: "Greater transparency about its nuclear weapons policy is a calculated step in India's drive to be accepted as an equal of the fiver nuclear weapon powers. For Pakistan, the main concern should be that its more sharply focused and limited deterrence against India's superior conventional force does not once again come under discriminatory pressure. Pakistan's nuclear doctrine must reflect a precise determination of the threat faced by the country, the minimum nuclear force level deemed sufficient to achieve deterrence and an unflagging national resolve to defend Pakistan's territorial integrity and independence.

"To be credible, this deterrence need not seek any fixed ratio to the number of Indian nuclear weapons. It should have its self-assured autonomous existence in which dynamic reappraisals determine the size of the arsenal."

Nawa-i-Waqt carried a sharp and pointed comment criticising India in the harshest possible language. Pointing out that India's "nuclear preparedness" in accordance with its "declared doctrine" has not only posed a threat to Pakistan but also the entire region, the newspaper says: "In its election manifesto during the previous poll the BJP had promised to carry out nuclear tests and hand over nuclear weapons to the armed forces. Within three months after coming to power it carried out the nuclear tests to implement the promise made in the manifesto. The nuclear doctrine too has been announced during an election period. Its purpose is, besides blackmailing the countries in the region, to give birth to a nuclear weapons race as a result of which all our resources will be used for defence and security purposes."

In The Nation of August 22 a newspaper commentator, Ikram Ullah asks: "Against whom is all this massive Indian military build-up designed? New Delhi, to satisfy the West, has pointed towards China. Defence experts around the globe bear testimony to the fact that the immediate target is Pakistan. This is not only to achieve regional hegemony in South Asia but also to make a bid as a world power by its own right as a major nuclear state."

One fails to understand why there is so much of anxiety in Pakistan when the Indian draft contains nothing new so far as New Delhi's nuclear policy is concerned. Moreover, the policy draft is yet to be approved by the government.

— Syed Nooruzzaman

Mongolia commends India’s restraint

ULAAN BAATAR, Aug 26 (PTI) — Mongolia today appreciated the restraint shown by India while pushing out Pakistan intruders from its territory in Kargil recently.

The appreciation came from Mongolian Prime Minister R. Amarjargal during a 40-minute meeting with visiting Vice-President Krishan Kant, who gave a detailed account of Pakistan’s misadventure and the restraint shown by India in dealing with the situation.

Holding Pakistan squarely responsible for the armed intrusion into the Kargil sector, Mr Kant highlighted worldwide acclaim received by India on the Kargil issue and sought support from Mongolia, which is strategically located between Russia and China.

Recalling the centuries-old ties Mongolia shared with India, the Vice-President expressed satisfaction at the present economic ties with Mongolia but stressed with the Prime Minister that there was a great scope for expanding bilateral economic linkages.

After meeting the Prime Minister, Mr Kant inaugurated a monastery named after Indian Ambassador to Mongolia Kushok Bakula, who himself is a Lama and has played a significant role in furthering India’s ties, both religious and political, with this country.

In the afternoon, the Vice-President inaugurated the expanded Rajiv Gandhi Vocational Training Centre (RGVTC) which trains Mongolian youth in the disciplines of machine shop, auto mechanics, plumbing, electrical repair and testing, radio and TV repair, computer programming, carpentry, gemstone cutting, making and polishing and handicrafts — ceramic artware.

Speaking at the inauguration function, Mr Kant said traditional Mongolian society was an unparalleled study in economic self-reliance and the RGVTC was the example of India’s commitment to assist Mongolia’s social and economic development through human resource development.

End to Dagestan war ‘far off’

MOSCOW, Aug 26 (UNI) — Despite the eviction of rebel fighters from many mountain villages in Dagestan and the militants losing several thousand troops, an end to the Dagestan conflict is still far off, Russian defence experts have warned.

“The extermination of the extremists in Dagestan’s high mountains will be no victory for the Russian policy’’, warns the daily Nazavisimiya Gazeta quoting Russian defence experts.

Reports in the Russian media quote defence experts as saying that militants, after withdrawing from their present locations, will soon open a new front in Dagestan itself in areas like the Kizlyar district, where the Chechen terrorists had a few years ago carried out one of the biggest operations and had taken thousands of people hostage, and north Ossetia. The reports dismiss claims by the Kremlin that the worse of the security crisis in Dagestan is over.

Reuters adds: Meanwhile, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Thursday hailed the success of Russia’s operation to flush out armed Islamic guerrillas in its southern Dagestan region and vowed to use force against any future attacks.

“The first stage of the (Dagestani) operation is completed. It was carried out in the shortest possible time with minimum losses, but there have been casualties,” Mr Putin told a weekly session of the Russian Cabinet. He gave no figures.

BISHKEK: Kyrgyz armed forces are preparing to move against hundreds of armed intruders who have seized four villages and are holding seven as hostages, Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Muratbek Imanaliyev said today.

Hostages in plane hijack released

BARCELONA, Aug 26 (Reuters) — All 79 passengers and nine crew members were released early today from a hijacked Royal Air Maroc airliner forced to land in Spain, but the plane’s captain was still being held, an official said.

A spokesman at Barcelona’s international airport said authorities believed a lone hijacker had seized the Boeing 737 on a flight from Morocco to Tunisia, and a negotiator was trying to persuade him to surrender peacefully.

The release came more than five hours after the plane landed and followed tense negotiations with the unidentified French-speaking hijacker. No injuries were reported.

Later the hijacker gave himself up to the police and the captain also left the plane, an airport spokesman said.

30 boys involved in gang-rape

PORT MORESBY, Aug 26 (AP) — More than 30 boys allegedly took part in the gang rape of girls at a high school in Papua New Guinea’s Western Province, the police said today.

The girls were sexually assaulted in their dormitory and on the grounds of Togoba High School outside the town of Mt Hagen in the early hours of Tuesday, Western Province acting provincial Police Commander Giossi Labi said.

Congress powers in Venezuela cut

CARACAS (Venezuela), Aug 26 (AP) — The Constitutional Assembly, controlled by supporters of President Hugo Chavez, declared a legislative emergency in Venezuela, usurping a majority of the Congress’ function.

Yesterday’s move takes away the Venezuelan Congress’ right to pass law and limits its duties to a narrow range of activities such as the Budget oversight.

It is the latest development in the ongoing confrontation between the assembly — established last month to write a new constitution for Venezuela — and the legislative and judicial branches of the government.

Mr Chavez, a former coup leader, elected on promises to bring a “social revolution” in Venezuela, says the assembly is the country’s supreme power, but opposition leaders say it has already far overstepped its bounds.

“The Constitutional Assembly does not have the authority to do this”, said Timoteo Zambrano, head of the opposition Democratic Action Party.

Dowry used as bribe
TEHERAN: A young Iranian girl stole her own dowry and used it to bribe friends who had threatened to tell her parents she was wearing makeup outside the house, papers said. The police was asked to investigate after a Teheran couple noticed the dowry for their two daughters was disappearing bit by bit from their house, the Kayhan paper reported on Wednesday. — AFP

Guns-for-cash swap
WASHINGTON: It was an offer hundreds of Washington DC residents could not refuse: turn in a gun and get $ 100 on the spot. Grandparents turned up as did one nine-year-old child, the police said. Response to the gun buyback was so overwhelming that the programme briefly ran out of money. The police said on Wednesday it collected 2,306 weapons in just two days. The nation has been shocked by a spate of shootings in places normally considered safe.— Reuters