• Pak eases visa curbs for aged Indians

Protests in Europe over NATO raids
PARIS, March 27 — Protests broke out in several European cities and elsewhere yesterday against NATO air strikes on Yugoslavia, with demonstrations focusing on US embassies and those of its NATO partners.

Anti-terrorism courts in Pak
KARACHI, March 27 — The Pakistan Government has established eight anti-terrorism courts to curb violence in the troubled Sind province after the Supreme Court declared special military courts unconstitutional, Provincial Governor Moeenuddin Haider said.

Pak to have Chinese F-7 fighters
ISLAMABAD, March 27 — Pakistan Air Force is planning to acquire F-7 MG fighter aircraft from China to upgrade its fleet which has not been inducted with any new aircraft for more than six years.

Arafat keeps world guessing
LESS than six weeks before the Oslo accords which underpin the Middle East peace process expire, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat is keeping the world guessing about whether he will carry out his threat to unilaterally declare statehood.

Sultan of Brunei prize for Indian

Pak for serious dialogue

ISLAMABAD, March 27 (PTI) — Pakistan today asked India to hold "serious talks" to settle the "contentious" Kashmir issue and asserted Islamabad's resolve to push forward the bilateral dialogue with New Delhi.

Pakistan wants to resolve the Kashmir issue through dialogue and "we will continue this (dialogue) process", Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif told reporters here.

"If They (Indians) also want to settle the (Kashmir) dispute through talks, they should continue the talks seriously...I don't believe in mere statements but realisation of the solution to the problem," Mr Sharif said.

He side-stepped a question on his proposed visit to India at Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's invitation during the latter's Lahore visit by putting a counter-question to a journalist, "Why are you asking this? Do you want to write against me?"

Mr Sharif, who had invited Mr Vajpayee to Pakistan and had promised to reciprocate, is yet to respond to Mr Vajpayee's invitation.

Mr Sharif, who was addressing the press conference at his residence to take some important economic measures to boost the sagging economy, said, "Pakistan does not want arms race with India" but added following the May nuclear tests Pakistan was now talking to India on an equal footing.

"Pakistan, by the grace of god, has achieved self-reliance in defence to a great extent," Mr Sharif said.

He dismissed apprehensions that there was something secret in the Lahore declaration and said it was a public document which was announced amid the glare of world media and there was nothing secret about it and claimed that the two countries held an "open discussion" on the Kashmir issue.

The Lahore declaration was signed between the two countries and Pakistan was endeavouring to make a forward movement on it, Mr Sharif said, adding "If it (the Lahore declaration) could become a basis for the settlement of the problems between India and Pakistan, there can be no better policy than this".

Mr Sharif had held more than one round of one-to-one talks with Mr Vajpayee during their summit meeting on February 20 and 21. Under the declaration the two countries resolved to further intensify the bilateral dialogue process to resolve all outstanding issues by upgrading the talks to the level of Foreign Ministers.

Mr Sharif said Pakistan was ready to sign the nuclear comprehensive test ban treaty (CTBT) if the atmosphere of coercion was removed.

"We are ready to adhere to the CTBT provided pressure or coercion is removed," Mr Sharif said in an obvious reference to the continuing sanctions on financial assistance and sale of arms to Pakistan.

Mr Sharif, however, refused to comment on the reported statement of his Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz that Pakistan may sign the treaty even before the September deadline.

KARACHI: Reiterating his pledge to eliminate terrorism and provide justice to the people, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday said he would go to any extent to accomplish the task.

Talking to mediapersons here after visiting the Bhoja family to offer his condolences over the killing of their son Asif, Mr Sharif said every effort would be made to award exemplary punishment to the killers of Asif.

He said the government had left no stone unturned to fight terrorism. In the wake of concerted efforts on the part of the government, terrorism had been curbed.

"I had removed the government of my own party, imposed Governor's rule in Sind and established military trial courts under constitutional provision just to restore peace, eliminate terrorism and provide justice to the people of the city," he added.

Pak eases visa curbs for aged Indians

ISLAMABAD, March 27 (ANI) — In a welcome gesture to the Indian announcement of easing travel restrictions on a few hundred Pakistanis, Islamabad has decided to reciprocate by easing visa restrictions for aged Indians, women and children.

The final announcement of these categories of Indians is expected to be made early next month.

On Thursday, India announced a select category of Pakistanis as well as their spouses, unmarried daughters and children up to the age of 18 years would be given multiple entry visas for a year on certain conditions.

"They have made this announcement with a lot of fanfare, though only a few hundred Pakistanis will benefit out of this Indian move which was taken without informing Pakistan, officially," a senior officer said. Pakistan, he said, had decided to ease the visa restrictions and this move would prove beneficial to a large number of people.

It was learnt that out of the total human traffic between India and Pakistan at least 98 per cent are Muslims on both sides and it is for this reason that Pakistan has decided to accommodate the maximum number of people by easing travel restrictions. "We will also exempt these people from police reporting," said the official, adding, "The visa facilities will also be upgraded in India by the Pakistani High Commission for those who want to travel to Pakistan."

Another proposal to issue multiple visa to businessmen from India for a specific time period is also under study.

The visa restrictions are being eased by both the countries in line with the joint statement issued at the end of the Indo-Pak summit held at the Prime Ministers' level in Lahore last month.

In the joint statement, it was agreed that "the two sides would hold consultations with a view to further liberalising the visa and travel regime".

NATO strikes yet again, Russia snaps ties

LONDON, March 27 (PTI) — Undeterred by protests world over, a belligerent NATO struck yet again against Serbian targets for the fourth consecutive day today even as a furious Russia suspended ties with the Alliance and threatened to send weapons to the beleaguered Yugoslavia.

Two Tomahawk cruise missiles from US navy ships in the Adriatic were fired at enemy targets and "the attack has started," a NATO official was quoted as saying, while two stealth bombers, four F-16s and two EA-6B prowler surveillance aircraft were reported to have taken off from NATO's Aviano airbase in Italy.

Reports from Belgrade and Brussels quoted witnesses citing renewed wage of aerial attacks and heavy impacts amid warning and air raid sirens, preceded by two explosions.

Russia, angry over unabated NATO attacks and stung by yesterday's defeat of its resolution in the Security Council, snapped ties with the NATO and threatened to send arms aide to Belgrade if the blitzkrieg was not halted immediately and lauded India and China for supporting Moscow on the Kosovo issue.

The state Duma passed a resolution condemning the NATO aggression with an overwhelming 366-4 and two abstentions and proposed to delay the ratification of the US-Russian Start-II Nuclear Disarmament Treaty as a protest.

A determined US President Bill Clinton, while justifying the Alliance attacks, urged the NATO to "stay the course" and continue pounding Yugoslavia until President Slobodan Milosevic accepted US-sponsored peace deal.

The NATO suggested that "an ethnic cleansing operation" was underway in Kosovo and a senior US defence official said the fresh wave of strikes would shift to some extent towards targets in the Kosovo province, a step that would require low-flying, tank-buster planes and helicopters to take out Serb armour.

In a television interview, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said NATO air strikes were "the only chance of securing an end to this brutality" in Kosovo and denied that the latest wave of reported massacres in the trouble-torn province had been sparked off by the air strikes on Serbia.

Despite heavy bombardments of its strategic targets, a defiant Belgrade vowed to continue crackdown against the Kosovo Liberation Army "terrorists" saying "they should be eliminated... neutralised".

Protests in Europe over NATO raids

PARIS, March 27 (AFP) — Protests broke out in several European cities and elsewhere yesterday against NATO air strikes on Yugoslavia, with demonstrations focusing on US embassies and those of its NATO partners.

The police in Athens turned out in force and fired tear gas at Greek left-wing sympathisers and number of Serbs who pelted the US, British and German embassies with eggs in the Greek capital yesterday.

Two television cameramen of the Mega Channel were earlier injured in stone-throwing as some 10,000 persons took to the streets to voice their objection to the NATO air raids, chanting “Americans, killers of peoples.”

In Nicosia, some 500 Cypriots also protested the raids by burning US flags and shouting “Americans and NATO, murderers”. While parliamentary Speaker Spyros Kyprianou called for an “immediate” halt to the bombing.”

In Poland, dozens of young left-wing pacifists and Yugoslavs living in Poland demonstrated in front of the US embassy in Warsaw.

One representative said the protestors sided with the victims of “Milosevic’s criminal policy” but said the strikes would only increase “ethnic purges.”

Some 300 Serbs living in the Netherlands demonstrated in the centre of Rotterdam, denouncing the USA and the Netherlands and calling Prime Minister Wim Kok a murderer.”

They also called for a “Serbian Kosovo” and one protester brandished a US flag with the stars replaced by Nazi swastikas.

Bosnian Serbs, most of them students, angered by the NATO raids trashed branch offices of the British and US embassies and damaged the French and German missions whose staff had been evacuated before the strikes began.

The British and US missions in the main Bosnian Serb town were devastated, while windows at the French and German ones were broken with stones.

A US embassy employee was seriously injured late Thursday during a demonstration in front of the office.

In Austria, more than 1,000 Serbs protested near the US embassy in Vienna by burning US flags, and throwing eggs, tomatoes and firecrackers at the police.

In Vienna, about 5,000 Serb demonstrators assembled yesterday night on Saint Stephen’s square in the city centre to denounce NATO’s intervention and in Chicago, some 3,000 pro-Serb demonstrators massed in a city-centre square, shouting slogans and blaming Clinton for the bombings.

ATHENS (AP): Russia ordered the western alliance’s representative to leave the country. Russia’s Foreign Minister, Igor Ivanov, was quoted as saying “all contact with NATO leaders will be put on hold until the aggression against Yugoslavia has stopped.”

Russia, which is not a NATO member, has been highly critical of NATO’s decision to use military muscle to force acceptance of a peace plan between Yugoslavia and ethnic Albanian separatists in the Kosovo province.

Anti-terrorism courts in Pak

KARACHI, March 27 (AFP) — The Pakistan Government has established eight anti-terrorism courts to curb violence in the troubled Sind province after the Supreme Court declared special military courts unconstitutional, Provincial Governor Moeenuddin Haider said.

Mr Haider yesterday said judges had already been appointed to special courts which would start functioning from the next week “to provide speedy justice to people”.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif set up military courts in December after years of political and sectarian violence in the Sind capital of Karachi left more than 3,500 persons dead.

However, the country’s top court last month declared Mr Sharif’s move illegal.

The military courts, set up after Mr Sharif sacked the provincial government and imposed a direct federal rule on Sind in October, had sentenced 13 persons to death. The Supreme Court stayed their executions.

Mr Haider said serious crimes, including murders, rapes and kidnappings sent to the defunct military courts, would be transferred to the special anti-terrorism courts.

These courts would hear the cases on a daily basis and verdicts would be given within a week, officials said.

Mr Sharif, who visited Karachi yesterday to share condolences with the chief of the private Bhoja Airline, Farooq Bhoja, over this week’s murder of his son by kidnappers here, vowed to continue his fight against terrorism. “Terrorists will not be spared at any cost”, he said.

Aung San Suu Kyi's husband dead

LONDON, March 27 (PTI) — Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s husband, Michael Aris, today died of prostate cancer in a hospital here. He was 52.

Aris had been terminally ill for some time and the end came at 5.30 a.m. GMT.

Ms Suu Kyi met Aris, an Oxford academician, in Britain in the early 1970s when she was studying at the London School for Oriental Studies and working for the UN.

They were married in 1972 and have two sons.

Aris, who had applied for a visa to visit Ms Suu Kyi in Yangon, was denied permission by the ruling Myanmar junta who said, "Aris might not be able to receive proper medical care in Myanmar."

Instead, the junta offered to allow Ms Suu Kyi to visit her ailing husband, but the opposition leader rejected it fearing she might not be allowed to re-enter the country, according to sources in the National League for Democracy.

In a statement issued in Yangon, Ms Suu Kyi said "I have been so fortunate to have such a wonderful husband who had always given me the understanding I needed. On behalf of my sons, Alexander and Kim, I want to thank all those around the world who had supported my ailing husband."

Pak to have Chinese F-7 fighters

ISLAMABAD, March 27 (PTI) — Pakistan Air Force (PAF) is planning to acquire F-7 MG fighter aircraft from China to upgrade its fleet which has not been inducted with any new aircraft for more than six years.

Air Chief Air Marshal Pervez Mehdi Qureshi while disclosing this has said Pakistan should not ignore its conventional capability and stressed that, “the critical deficiency of a high- tech aircraft in our force structure remains to be redressed”.

The Air Chief, who was addressing the Air War College at Karachi, said after achieving the nuclear equilibrium with India following the nuclear tests of last year, “Pakistan cannot afford to scale down conventional capability”.

He stressed that despite being the ultimate in their destructive capability, the nuclear weapons have never been used in any conflict since the World War II, even in the long drawn wars of Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan.

“We need to clearly imbibe this lesson of history for the security of our future,” he said, adding, “a weaker conventional capability may invite aggression”.

He said air force, “can and will create a decisive effect” in the modern warfare but lamented that Pakistan Air Force has not been upgraded with the induction of new aircraft for years.

Arafat keeps world guessing
From David Sharrock in Jerusalem

LESS than six weeks before the Oslo accords which underpin the Middle East peace process expire, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat is keeping the world guessing about whether he will carry out his threat to unilaterally declare statehood.

Mr Arafat is continuing his diplomatic offensive, touring European states and north America to seek political support for the Palestinians. The message he has heard everywhere is that he should put statehood on hold until the Israeli elections are concluded in June and negotiations on the many thorny issues remaining in the five-year-old process can be given one final push.

The most influential voice is naturally that of President Bill Clinton, who has given Mr Arafat the red-carpet treatment in Washington twice in the past two months, while pointedly failing to invite Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, to the White House for a meeting which might boost his re-election hopes.

Relations between Mr Netanyahu and Mr Clinton have grown testier since December when the US President visited Jerusalem and the Palestinian autonomous regions of Gaza and Bethlehem, just days before the Israeli leader suspended implementation of the Wye agreement — which was supposed to have breathed new life into the peace process — and called early elections.

In contrast, the mood music between Mr Arafat and Mr Clinton appears to be growing ever more melodic. Mr Arafat emerged from his latest meeting with the President on Tuesday calling it useful and positive and saying he had “listened to President Clinton’s valuable advice”. He did not give details.

It is unlikely he heard anything to contradict long-standing US policy that Palestinian statehood is a matter for negotiation not unilateral action, but clearly there was talk of how to fill the legal vacuum that May 4 will usher in, when the five-year period specified by the land-for-peace Oslo agreement ends.

As a quid pro quo for delaying a unilateral declaration, he is seeking a firm statement from Washington that it does indeed support the establishment of a Palestinian state.

He also wants an accelerated timetable for final-status talks to ensure that Israel cannot spin the negotiations out indefinitely while it continues to create “facts on the ground” — by extending Jewish settlement in the occupied territories.

And while the White House is giving nothing away, the Washington correspondent of Israel’s best-selling newspaper, Yediot Aharonoth, wrote on Wednesday: “The game has been fixed already . . . both parties have already made a deal.”

By delaying an announcement beyond May 4, Mr Arafat will deny Mr Netanyahu the opportunity to boost his ratings in the elections two weeks later. Nobody, from the Palestinians to Washington, is hiding the hope that Israel’s right wing will lose to the pro-Oslo Labour Party, and that the optimism created in 1994 by the interim accords can be recaptured.

Two dates are being mooted for a delayed declaration of statehood. The first, on the last day of 1999 and this millennium, is now considered to leave not enough time to complete negotiations on the issues of Palestine’s borders, refugees and the status of Jerusalem.

The second, a year from now, might capitalise on a visit to the Holy Land by the Pope, which the Israeli Tourism Minister announced but which the Vatican says has not been finalised.

Either way, Mr Arafat is determined not to lose the opportunity to become the sovereign head of the world’s newest state, be it in the closing hours of this millennium or in the first few months of the next. Any delay beyond May is merely temporary, by which he stands to gain greater international support.
— The Guardian, London

Sultan of Brunei prize for Indian

LONDON, March 27 (PTI) — Eminent Indian Islamic scholar, Syed Abdul Hasan Al Nadwi, rector of Dar Al-Ulam Nadwat Al-Ulama, has won this year’s prestigious Sultan of Brunei International Prize for his work on biographical studies of major figures on Islamic thought.

The prize, which carries an impressive cash award and a certificate, was instituted by the Sultan of Brunei at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies for Recognition of Academic Excellence in Arts, Social Science and Humanities.

US-Russia pact
WASHINGTON: Russia and the USA have quietly signed an agreement that salvages a 12 billion deal aimed at helping Russia convert uranium from its nuclear weapons into fuel for the US nuclear reactors the New York Times reported today, Quoting Clinton administration officials. The programme to convert highly enriched uranium into low-enrichment fuel is the key component of a three-part package and part of the administration’s effort to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. — UNI

Anti-malaria vaccine
WASHINGTON: A new vaccine, developed by using bits of DNA from parasite that causes malaria, could prove to be a breakthrough in preventing the disease, researchers have said. It uses pieces of the parasite’s DNA to stop its growth in the bloodstream and could stop transmission of the infection, the researchers at the Johns Hopkings School of Public Health in Baltimore said. Writing in the April issue of the journal Infection and Immunity, researchers said DNA vaccines were easier and cheaper to produce than conventional vaccines made from proteins. The study, partly funded by the World Health Organisation (WHO), was conducted on mice. — ANI

China joins UPOV
BEIJING: China has joined the International Convention for Protection of new Varieties of plants and has submitted a list of its first group of 18 new varieties and strains. China will use the experience of other countries and promote exchanges and cooperation with members of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of plants (UPOV), Xinhua news agency said. Chinese officials submitted the application for membership of the UPOV on March 23 in Geneva. — PTI

Vikram Sarabhai Medal
WASHINGTON: Dr James D. Baker, the Administrator of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric agency (NOAA) and Under-Secretary Department of Commerce, has been awarded the 1998 “Fifth ISRO-COSPAR Vikram Sarabhai Medal.” Mr K. Kasturirangan, Secretary, Department of Space, presented the award to the Baker on Friday night in the presence of the Indian Ambassador to the USA Mr Naresh Chandra and senior representatives from the US Government and international communications agencies. The ceremony was held at Indian Ambassador’s official residence here. — PTI

Probe into genocide
UNITED NATIONS: The Security Council has backed Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s proposal for an inquiry into how the United Nations reacted before and after the slaughter of 800,000 persons in Rwanda in 1994. With the world body still being reproached for its failure to halt the bloodshed, Mr Annan, who was head of UN peacekeeping in 1994, said last week he planned an independent inquiry into the genocide and asked the 15-member council to endorse it. Council President Qin Huasun of China, in a letter to the Secretary-General, said, “Members of the council support your proposed course of action in this unique circumstance.” — Reuters

Senior citizens
BEIJING: China is expected to have a staggering 130 million persons above the age of 60 by the turn of the century. Chinese Civil Affairs officials have wanted of a severe strain on society with the growing number of elderly population in the country and urged the government to take active steps to avoid a crisis. — PTI