Monday, July 19, 1999
today's calendar
....... |
W O R L D | Monday, July 19, 1999 |
|
| weather n
spotlight today's calendar |
....... |
||
|
Pak ex-Generals flay PM
on Kargil Sharif ‘took Rs 1 b’ from Bin Laden |
 |
|
|
Peace ‘likely in W.
Asia before US poll’ India, Pak upgrading N-plan: CIA China begins military exercises Democracy activist arrested USA still resists rights court Allies ‘planned’ ground
invasion Congo: Annan for large UN force |
|||||
 |
||||||
Pak ex-Generals flay PM on Kargil ISLAMABAD, July 18 (UNI) — Former Pakistani Generals and Air Chiefs have described the Kargil operation as a “disaster’’ for Pakistan saying that there is no military solution to the Kashmir issue. Expressing their views at a seminar organised yesterday by a newspaper in Rawalpindi, they said despite an isolated tactical military gain, Pakistan lost on strategic grounds. The senior defence retired officials, including former Air Force chief Air Marshal Noor Khan, former ISI chief Lt-Gen Asad Durrani, Lt-Gen Matinuddin Ahmad bitterly criticised the Nawaz Sharif Government for embarking on the Kargil misadventure. The former defence officials urged the government to learn from the mistakes it made and develop some mechanism before deciding matters of national importance. Air Marshal Noor Khan said: “We should have known that India will not be bogged down in Kargil and will expand the war to other fronts and the international community will not support us.’’ The speakers rejected the government’s claim that it was not aware of the possible repercussions of the crisis. Some described Kargil intrusion as a successful military operation squandered by the politicians. It was not a brilliant military move because the planners failed to assess India’s reaction. “The buck stops at the Prime Minister and the Chief of Army Staff who are responsible for the whole debacle and must accept the responsibility. Mr Sharif is responsible for approving it and Gen Pervez Musharaff is responsible for executing this misconceived action,’’ they said. Former ISI chief Durrani desc-ribed the Kargil intrusion as a tactically brilliant operation but said “we had not set our strategic priorities and failed in diplomatic and political preparations to back it up.’’ Former Vice Chief of Staff Lt Gen Matinuddin said Kargil was a “complete fiasco and a failure.’’ “We reached a situation where even China forced us not to escalate the conflict. “We have been humiliated and our image has been damaged,’’ the General asserted. Meanwhile, The Jamaat-i-Islami’s all-out campaign to oust Pakistan’s Premier Nawaz Sharif from power might pose a grave threat to his personal security. The threat is made apparent from Syed Munawar Hassan’s warning that “those who sabotage the successes of the Mujahideen (in Kargil) will meet the fate of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.’’ Hassan made this
statement in Swat (North-West Frontier Province) when he
was acting chief of the Jamaat-i-Islami in the absence of
Qazi Hussain Ahmed, according to Jamaat’s mouthpiece
Jasarat. |
Sharif ‘took Rs 1 b’ from Bin Laden ISLAMABAD,July 18 (PTI) — A top leader of Pakistan’s leading religious party Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) has accused Premier Nawaz Sharif of taking rupees 1 billion from Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden for election funds by promising to enforce Islamic laws in the country while assuring President Clinton of his government help in arresting Osama. Deputy Chief of JUI Hafiz Hussain Ahmed disclosed this during a public meeting in the Pakistan occupied town of Rawalkot yesterday as he also alleged that Sharif had promised the US President during his recent Washington visit that his government would help USA in arresting bin Laden, a report in Urdu daily Ausaf said today. The public meeting was held to condemn the Washington declaration which led to Pakistan agreeing to withdraw forces from Kargil areas. Several religious and political leaders at the meeting termed the accord between Mr Clinton and Mr Sharif as a “betrayal with Kashmiris’’. But, the startling disclosure by Hafiz Hussain shocked the thousands of people assembled to express solidarity with Mujahideens as the JUI leader described Mr Sharif as “ungrateful’’ while alleging that “during July 4 meeting in Washington details of operation against Osama was also been finalised’’, the report claimed. The allegation by the
JUI leader is significant in the sense that the JUI is an
ally of Mr Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML) in
Baluchistan and Mr Hafiz Hussain Ahmed is also a former
senator. The JUI leader further claimed that very soon
USA would once again launch an attack on Afghanistan to
get Osama bin Laden. |
Search on for Kennedy Jr, family HYANNISPORT (Massachusetts), July 18 (Reuters) — John F. Kennedy Jr, son of the assassinated US President and the closest thing to a US prince, was missing and feared dead yesterday along with his wife and sister-in-law 24 hours after the small plane he was piloting crashed. A massive search and rescue operation went on into the night after wreckage and luggage from the single-engined six-seater Piper Saratoga was found floating on water or washed ashore on the Massachusetts resort of Martha’s Vineyard. Many Americans feared the worst for Kennedy (38), his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy (33) and her elder sister Lauren Bessette who were en route to a family wedding and vacation. It was the latest tragedy to strike a beloved American family whose history is replete with early tragic deaths, including the assassinations of his father, John F. Kennedy in 1963 and his uncle Sen. Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 — events that changed the US political landscape. “We are not ready to give up on this yet and we are going to continue to focus on search and rescue,’’ US Coast Guard Rear Admiral Richard Larrabee said. “Searchers are going to use illumination to do their (night) search,’’ Larrabee said. He said they would use a US Navy vessel with a sonar scanner 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, not far from where his mother Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis had a summer house in sand dunes. “This is the area that we think most likely would give us the best hope of finding something tonight,’’ Larrabee said. He refused to give up. “I can tell you miraculous stories.’’ In a testament to the prominence in American public life of the Kennedy family, who are considered by many to be the US version of royalty, TV networks cancelled scheduled programmes all day and night to report the story. Once again Americans were huddled around their TVs and radios waiting for word as to whether a Kennedy was alive or dead. The family has been beset by more than 12 tragedies since the death in a plane crash during World War II of Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., the oldest son of financier Joe Kennedy. “That family is jinxed to the max,’’ said Michael Hyatt, serving at the comfort diner in midtown Manhattan. New Yorkers left bouquets of flowers outside the Manhattan apartment where Kennedy and his wife lived. At Yankee Stadium, a moment of silent prayer was observed at the game between the Yankees and the Atlanta Braves. President Bill Clinton called members of the family, including Sen. Ted Kennedy. “All our prayers and thoughts are with the families of those on board,’’ a White House statement said. The Piper 32 Saratoga disappeared on Friday night flying from New Jersey to Martha’s Vineyard. The Kennedy couple were to attend wedding of his cousin, Rory Kennedy, youngest daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy. The family cancelled the 6 p.M. wedding as the day that was meant for celebration was clouded in tragedy. Instead, they held a mass to pray for the safe return of all aboard the plane, a family spokesman said. Kennedy family spokesman Brian o’Connor insisted after the morning mass that “morale inside is upbeat and hopeful.’’ A suitcase bearing one of Lauren Bessette’s investment banking business cards at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter washed ashore, US Coast Guard officials said. A wheel and strut from an airplane, as well as carpeting and a headrest from a plane consistent with the Piper Saratoga was also recovered. Kennedy took off from the Essex County airport in Fairfield, New Jersey, at 8:38 p.m. on Friday night (38 GMT yesterday) and had been expected in Martha’s Vineyard at 10 p.m. (0400 GMT), the Coast Guard said. The Kennedy family alerted authorities at 2 a.m. EDT yesterday that the plane never arrived, officials said. The NTSB is authorised by law to investigate all air craft accident. Kennedy, who unlike his
famous father and other relatives avoided public office,
is founding Editor of George Magazine, a glossy political
monthly. |
Peace ‘likely in W. Asia before US poll’ JERUSALEM, July 18 (Reuters) — Israeli leader Ehud Barak and US President Bill Clinton believe peace breakthrough with both Syria and the Palestinians was possible before the US elections in November 2000, a top Barak aide said today. "But Mr Barak’s Chief-of-Staff Danny Yatom, accompanying the new Prime Minister on his maiden US visit, stopped short of calling a 15-month timeframe a deadline for a comprehensive West Asia peace. ‘’The estimate of both the Prime Minister and the US President is that this is the time period necessary to see...how the process will unfold,’’ Mr Yatom told Israel radio from New York. ‘’The estimate is that within around 15 months, about a year and a half, we’ll be able to say if we reached a breakthrough or not. I hope we’ll reach a breakthrough. ‘’We’re talking about very, very complex and difficult problems both in the Palestinian and the Syrian arena,’’ he said. Mr Barak has held several rounds of talks with Mr Clinton and top US officials on reviving peacemaking after the election defeat of Israeli right-winger Benjamin Netanyahu, and will hold further meetings with Mr Clinton tomorrow. Foreign Minister David Levy Deflected criticism that setting a target would encourage Arab partners to resist a deal in the hope of forcing Israel into last minute concessions. ‘’If we set that this is the target, it shows that Israel is not interested in dragging things out and expects the other side to make an effort in order to finally end this conflict,’’ Mr Levy said. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat sidestepped a question about whether Mr Barak’s target date was realistic, but said the Palestinians wanted to move quickly to clinch a deal. Mr Levy said Mr Barak had told Mr Clinton of his ‘’red lines’’ in a final peace accord with the Palestinians: Israel will not withdraw to its borders before it captured the West Bank and Gaza in 1967, Jerusalem will remain united under Israeli rule, most Jewish settlers will remain in the West Bank blocks and Israel will not allow a foreign army west of Jordan river. Palestinians dispute the
points. |
India, Pak upgrading N-plan: CIA WASHINGTON, July 18 (PTI, UNI) — India and Pakistan are continuing their attempts to improve their nuclear arms programmes, according to a US intelligence report. The two neighbours, who conducted multiple nuclear tests in May last year, are engaged in upgrading their nuclear weapons programmes, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) said in a half-yearly proliferation report mandated by the Congress. India and Pakistan were able to obtain “only a limited amount” of nuclear weapons-related assistance during the second half of 1998, just after the two countries conducted the tests. Meanwhile, The Washington Post said in a despatch that delegations from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had toured Pakistan’s nuclear and missile development sites. Meanwhile, China continues to supply missile know-how to Pakistan and advanced conventional arms to Iran, says the report. The semi-annual CIA report on proliferation says, "during the reporting period, Chinese entities provided a variety of missile-related items and assistance to several countries of proliferation concern.’’ "China also was an important supplier of advanced conventional weapons to Iran through the second half of 1998, but President Jiang Zemin pledged to cease supply of Cruise missiles.’’ The report says North
Korea during the past six months of 1998 "obtained
raw materials for its ballistic missiles programmes,
especially from firms in China.’’ |
China begins military exercises BEIJING, July 18 (AFP) — The Chinese military has begun large-scale military exercises in an unnamed location in response to mounting tensions with Taiwan, an official newspaper reported today. “Several special forces detachments of the People’s Liberation Army have gathered and are holding large-scale military attack exercises in a certain military region,” the official Life Times Daily reported. The Taiwan situation has
suddenly intensified and China’s People’s
Liberation Army stands in combat readiness “to
firmly defend the unity of the motherland and territorial
integrity,” the report said. |
Democracy activist arrested BEIJING, July 18 (AFP) — A democracy activist who was among a student delegation that spoke to China’s leaders before the Tiananmen massacre has been formally arrested for calling on people to remember the crackdown, his wife said yesterday. In April, 50-year-old Jiang Qisheng wrote a letter urging Chinese people to hold a candlelight vigil on the 10th anniversary of the June 4, 1989, crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, his wife Zhang Hong told AFP. Zhang said the police
told her that Jiang had been arrested on charges of
propaganda and incitement to subvert state power, but no
legal documents had been produced. |
USA still resists rights
court LONDON, July 18 — A year after 120 nations voted to establish a permanent world court to try the most heinous war crimes, the dream is well on the way to becoming reality but the USA is still battling to change the treaty. Only three states — Senegal, San Marino and Trinidad and Tobago —have so far ratified the statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), intended to try genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and aggression. But 83 have signed the treaty and many are well on their way to ratification, raising the possibility that the court could be up and running in The Hague within three years. Sixty states must ratify for it to take effect. “We feel there is great momentum towards the court, which is reflected in the growing number of signatures,’’ said Brigitte Suhr of the New York-based pressure group Human Rights Watch. France and Belgium have amended their constitutions to allow the court’s jurisdiction, Italy is close to completing ratification and the treaty is currently before the Parliaments of Chile and Venezuela, among others. Alone among the Western democracies, the USA joined China, Libya, Iraq and Israel in voting against the statute at a UN conference in Rome last July. Washington branded the treaty “fatally flawed” after failing to win guarantees that its armed forces, frequently in action overseas, would not be subject to investigation and prosecution by an independent prosecutor. U.S. special envoy on war crimes David Scheffer told Reuters that Washington’s main concern remained whether the prosecutor would have the power “to unjustifiably bring charges against the official actions of our armed forces overseas...’’ NATO’s air war against Yugoslavia over Kosovo, waged in the name of humanitarian principles but on an uncertain basis in international law, illustrated the potential dangers of such a tribunal, Mr Scheffer said in a telephone interview. “What Kosovo demonstrates is that we have got to get this equation right in this court,’’ he said. “One has to be extremely careful about any procedure that would in the future discourage governments from protecting human rights, from responding to atrocities, because of a concern that there is a court that is out of control, that would...seek to investigate and indict the militaries of an alliance trying to stop a wave of atrocities.” The highly publicised case of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, arrested in Britain on a Spanish extradition warrant on charges of torture committed in Chile, has highlighted the drive for an international justice system to deal with the most serious human rights abuses. At the same time, an ad hoc UN War Crimes Tribunal for former Yugoslavia has indicted Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and four of his closest associates for alleged war crimes committed against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. That was the first time a serving head of state has been charged for alleged human rights offences in his own country. “All these cases
reflect the deepening insinuation of international law
into the internal affairs of sovereign states,” said
Mr Jeremy Rabkin, a law professor at Cornell University,
New York. — Reuters |
Allies ‘planned’ ground invasion LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) — Yugoslavia’s dramatic agreement to pull out of Kosovo came only three days after Britain and the USA finalised plans for a massive ground invasion of the province, a British Sunday newspaper said today. The invasion, codenamed “B-minus’’, was to have been launched in the first week of September if Serbian forces had refused to withdraw from Kosovo, The Observer said. Britain had agreed to
provide the largest contingent of 50,000 troops to the
170,000-strong force, the newspaper said. |
Congo: Annan for large UN force UNITED NATIONS, July 18 (Reuters) — Secretary-General Kofi Annan has recommended a “large and expensive” peacekeeping mission for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and said up to 90 military observers should be deployed immediately. Mr Annan told the
Security Council on Friday in a report that in order to
be effective, “thousands of international troops and
civilian personnel” as well as 500 military
observers would eventually be needed to help maintain a
ceasefire in the vast Central African country. |
| H |
|
||
| Samoan Minister shot dead WELLINGTON: Samoa’s Minister of Public Works Luagalau Levaula Kamu, has been shot dead at a party’s political function, Radio New Zealand reported on Sunday. The radio quoted police officials in the Pacific Island, formerly Western Samoa, as confirming the Minister’s death at a celebration he was compering at a school to mark the 20th anniversary of the ruling Human Rights Protection Party. Levaula went to a private area to talk on a mobile phone and was killed by a gunman, the report said. — (Reuters) Meningitis kills 5 13 LTTE men
killed Pregnant girls
freed 170 bank safes
looted Award for
attendant 3 die in crash Lost tongue in
kiss |
 |
 |
| Nation
| Punjab | Haryana | Himachal Pradesh | Jammu & Kashmir | | Chandigarh | Editorial | Business | Sport | | Mailbag | Spotlight | 50 years of Independence | Weather | | Search | Subscribe | Archive | Suggestion | Home | E-mail | |
