Wednesday, March 31, 1999
today's calendar
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W O R L D | Wednesday, March 31, 1999 |
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UK row over NATO raids Pak
army chief may be replaced |
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Russia to keep out of
Kosovo conflict
Indo-Pak
talks in May Russia’s
move yields ‘results’ Pinochet
to stay under house arrest IRA
identifies graves of victims, says sorry ‘Eastside’
role written for villain Gulshan |
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UK row over NATO raids LONDON, March 30 (PTI) — A major political row broke out in Britain last night after prominent Opposition leader Alex Salmond blasted NATO raids on Yugoslavia and likened them to Hitler’s air blitzkrieg of London, inviting a public duel with Foreign Secretary Robin Cook. Mr Salmond, leader of Scottish National Party, a growing political force, speaking over BBC and ITV, described the NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia, a sovereign nation, as “NATO’s folly.” Inviting the wrath of the Blair Government which is taking part in the NATO raids, Mr Salmond charged NATO with “acting for the first time in an offensive manner without any remit from the UN”. His remarks, the first by a major leader and debunking the much trumpeted national consensus for NATO raids, stung the Labour Government with Mr Cook ridiculing him, saying “Salmond would tonight be the toast in Belgrade”. This sparked off a bitter wordy row between two old Scottish politics rivals. Mr Cook described Salmond’s remarks as a “farce” and asked: “How could Salmond liken the actions of a democratic NATO with dictatorship of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic?” NATO was set up as a “defensive alliance”, Mr Salmond said and dubbed the NATO strikes as “an action of dubious legality, and of unpardonable folly”. He told British leaders to go in for a negotiated settlement with Yugoslavia. Rejecting the US and British positions on monitoring of a likely ceasefire in Kosovo, he said only the UN and not NATO forces should be deployed for the purpose. Mr Salmond, whose party stands for independence of Scotland from London, said Mr Blair’s policy on Kosovo was “misguided”. Any action in Yugoslavia had to achieve two main purposes — to weaken the hold of Milosevic and to help Kosovo. “A bombing campaign will achieve neither. Indeed the chances are that it will make both worse”, he declared. LONDON (ANI): Pope John Paul has again appealed for an end to violence in Yugoslavia, saying that negotiation was the best way to achieve peace. “In response to violence, more violence is never a way out of a crisis. It is best to silence arms and the act of vengeance to begin negotiations,” he told parliamentarians from the Council of Europe, who were on a visit to the Vatican. “I insist everything
be done to bring peace to the region and allow civilian
populations to live fraternally in their land,” the
Pontiff said. During a Palm Sunday mass, he said it was
“never too late” to meet and to negotiate. |
Pak army chief may be replaced ISLAMABAD, March 30 (PTI) — The Prime Minister, Mr Nawaz Sharif, is reportedly contemplating replacing the army chief, General Pervez Musharraf, barely six months after he had pulled off a coup of sorts by forcing the earlier army chief to resign amid a controversy. Media reports here quoting sources claimed that the Prime Minister is consulting his close Cabinet colleagues and even his father, Mian Muhammad Sharif, for changing the Chief of the Army Staff. The reports, carried by Frontier Post and also by a fortnightly, Pulse, said General Musharraf is likely to be posted as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC). Former army chief Gen Jehangir Karamat was also the chairman of the JCSC before he was forced to resign in early October after he kicked off a controversy by proposing a national security council as the apex decision-making body with the involvement of the army. The media reports said General Musharraf, who had been appointed as new army chief by Mr Sharif superseding two senior Generals, has apparently fell apart from the Prime Minister following his recent statements in the media that Pakistan would never compromise on the Kashmir issue. The reports said General Musharraf was being considered for the less important post of the chairman of the JCSC despite the fact that the seniormost among the three chiefs was normally appointed to the post for which navy chief Admiral Dasih Bukhari qualified. Media is also speculating about the new army chief and claimed that two of the main contenders for the post are a former and a present chiefs of the army intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Among the front-runners for the coveted post are Lieut-Gen Nasim Rana, a former ISI chief, and Lieut-Gen Ziauddin, present ISI chief. Apart from these two there are at least four other senior army officers who are being tipped to be the new army chief, including Lieut-Gen Muhammad Aziz Khan. The reports said Lieut-Gen Ziauddin and Lieut-Gen Khan have the added advantage of being Punjabis and very close to Mr Sharif's father, who reportedly plays an important role in taking crucial decisions in government affairs. Incidentally Mr Sharif had
been dubbed by the media 'most powerful' Prime Minister
Pakistan ever had after he prevailed over the powerful
army establishment by forcing the earlier army chief
resign and then effecting a large-scale reshuffle in the
armed forces according to his wishes. |
Milosevic's terms for truce LONDON, March 30 (PTI) — Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic late tonight offered to reduce Serbian troop presence in troubled Kosovo province if the NATO forces called halt to relentless aerial blitzkerg of Yugoslavia as NATO ambassadors met in Brussels to consider his offer. The Yugoslav President outlined his offer in a live broadcast over Serbian television after holding marathon three hours of talks with Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov in Belgrade and immediately NATO sources said his offer fell short of the Western demand for the infusion of NATO troops into Kosovo. Mr Milosevic, the Serbian television reported, also agreed to cease operations in Kosovo and to allow what he described as "genuine Yugoslav refugees to return to Kosovo" if NATO announced a ceasefire. Soon after talks with Yugoslav leaders, Mr Primakov arrived in Bonn and was closeted with German Chancellor Gerhard Shroeder to convey Yugoslav President’s terms to NATO alliance. The offer by Mr Milosevic, Western media said was the first indication of any initiative to break the deadlock over military confrontation in the Balkans. Meanwhile, extreme bad weather conditions have forced NATO warplanes to reduce their bombing waves on Yugoslavia as thousands of Kosovan refugees continued to stream into neighbouring Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro. NATO commanders tonight
declared they had bolstered their weaponry bringing in
more ground attack warplanes and would now launch what
they called "night and day’’ attacks to
decimate Serbian forces. |
Russia to keep out of Kosovo conflict MOSCOW, March 30 (AFP, PTI) — Russia will not be drawn into the Kosovo conflict, President Boris Yeltsin said today in his annual state of the nation address. “It is for the first time that my address has come at such a dramatic moment”, Mr Yeltsin said. “The Balkan crisis demands from us not emotion but balanced and reasonable actions. “Russia has made its choice. We will not be drawn into a military conflict”, he told a combined session of both houses of Parliament. Mr Yeltisn also asked India and Pakistan to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) and comprehensive test ban treaty (CTBT) and he named India, China and Japan as “principal partners” of Moscow in Asia-Pacific region. “It is necessary that India and Pakistan should sign the nuclear test ban treaty and join the NPT club”, Mr Yeltsin said in an annual nation address to two chambers of the Russian parliament. Mr Yeltsin said his country would continue the process of reduction of strategic nuclear arms to maintain international security. Mr Yeltsin said “much has been done to improve relations with the countries in the region” in which India, China and Japan were Russia’s “principal partners”. He said the creation of a “rim of good neighbours” along Russia’s southern frontiers involving Iran and Turkey was also as one of the important tasks to be accomplished by Moscow. The Russian President also expressed confidence that after the ratification of Start-ii, Russia and the USA will move forward to discuss start-iii. About the NATO strikes, Mr Yeltsin expressed hope that the relation between Moscow and Washington would not suffer. “The tragic mistake of American leaders in Kosovo must not lead to an extended crisis in the Russian-American partnership”, the Russian President said. About the economy of the
country, Mr Yeltsin said parliament’s stalling his
government’s economic reforms last year had
contributed to financial collapse. |
China watching tea party aftershocks BEIJING, March 30 (PTI) — China is closely watching the political fallout of the much-hyped "tea party" hosted by Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy in New Delhi, diplomatic sources said here today. "With the Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting on the Sino-Indian border issue expected to take place soon, Beijing would like to wait and watch the political developments that may occur in New Delhi before giving the final nod for the JWG," the sources said. "There is a feeling that time is not ripe to discuss important issues with the BJP-led government which seems to be unstable," they said. China has expressed its willingness to hold the JWG which was suspended last year after May nuclear tests, however, Beijing has not given any firm date for discussion on the JWG. Chinese Ambassador to India Zhou Gang was also present at the tea party hosted by Mr Swamy, whom sources considered as an old "friend of China". He was the first political leader to visit China last year when relations between the two countries were at lowest ebb. The Chinese officials will also like to consult with CPM members and a group of senior Congress leaders scheduled to visit Beijing. "China will not make
any hasty decision and it is likely to consult with
senior Congress and CPM leaders on matters concerning
India and ways to normalise Sino-Indian relations,"
the sources commented. |
Indo-Pak talks in May ISLAMABAD, March 30 (UNI) — Pakistan will hold expert-level talks with New Delhi in May on the comprehensive test ban treaty (CTBT) and related issues in conformity with the recently signed Lahore Declaration, Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmad has said. Talking to newspersons here yesterday, Mr Ahmad said the two countries would start a new round of talks in the second half of May, to be spread over two months. The dialogue would be based on the principle of "review and improve’’ as regards Kashmir and other contentious issues. Mr Ahmad said the "spirit of the Lahore Declaration is intact and newspaper statements could not become a hurdle in its implementation.’’ He said: "The talks in New Delhi will be a test of India’s intentions as to how it will respond to the sincerity of Pakistan.’’ The Foreign Secretary also categorically denied "any cold war with Teheran over the issue of Afghanistan,’’ saying that both Iran and Pakistan wanted durable peace in the war-ravaged Islamic country. Mr Ahmad conceded that there had been some difficulties in connection with Afghanistan but he maintained these problems were gradually ending as both countries had a desire to see peace prevailing in the brotherly Islamic country. Replying to a question, Mr Ahmad said the NATO air strikes in Kosovo were carried out after all diplomatic efforts had failed. He said "it was a
timely action,’’ adding that it would help stop
genocide in Kosovo.’’ |
Russia’s move yields ‘results’ MOSCOW, March 30 (PTI) — Russia today said its initiative to find an amicable solution to the Kosovo crisis had produced "results" even as NATO threatened to accelerate bombardment on Serbian installations in Yugoslavia. "The talks have produced results. The rest will be announced later," Itar-Tass quoted the Russian Prime Minister Mr Yevgeny Primakov as saying in Belgrade after his six-hour-long discussions with the Yugoslav President, Mr Slobodan Milosevic. Mr Primakov, who was accompanied by Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev, discussed with the Yugoslav leadership ways to find an acceptable solution through political consultations. In Washington, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Pickering said he was "neither optimistic nor pessimistic" that Mr Primakov’s mission to Belgrade would be successful. "We are hopeful he (Primakov) can work something out which will stop the carnage ... restart the peace process ... but we are very realistic about that opportunity too," he told CNN in an interview. Meanwhile, NATO Air Commodore David Wilby told reporters in Brussels that attacks against the Serbian army and police forces in Kosovo would be intensified. In an identical tone, the USA also said it would send more bombers to join NATO’s stepped up air offensive but ruled out deployment of ground forces. BELGRADE: The Russian Prime Minister, Mr Yevgeny Primakov, today held talks with the Yugoslav leader, Mr Slobodan Milosevic, in an emergency bid to end the Kosovo crisis and NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. Russian media said Mr Primakov’s team had arrived at President Milosevic’s office and talks started at 0800 GMT (1.30 a.m. IST). A top-level Russian team, with Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev accompanying Primakov, arrived in Belgrade after a sixth night of intensive NATO air strikes, focussed on Serbian forces operating against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. The Yugoslav news agency, Tanjug, quoted Mr Primakov as saying that on arrival in Belgrade he had come "to shift the process to political territory" after six days of NATO air strikes. He said he had been asked
by President Boris Yeltsin to "try to find an
acceptable solution through political
consultations". |
Pinochet to stay under house arrest THE former Chilean dictator, Gen Augusto Pinochet, must remain under house arrest while the Home Secretary decides whether to issue a new go-ahead for extradition proceedings against him, three senior judges ruled at the high court on Monday. The judges gave General Pinochet leave to challenge the authority to proceed issued by Mr Jack Straw last December, and to apply for a writ of habeas corpus setting him free. But Lord Justice Laws, Mr Justice Latham and Mr Justice Cresswell ordered that a hearing on the challenge should be postponed until after April 15, to give Mr Straw time to amend or issue a new one. The General’s lawyers argue that the current authority is unlawful and flawed because it was issued on a misunderstanding of the law, following the first judgement by a different panel of Law Lords, which was later set aside. The Law Lords last week drastically cut the number of charges on which General Pinochet can be extradited from 32 to three. The high court was told on Monday that Mr Straw had no power to revoke the original authority, but he could issue a new one while the current one was still in force. However, if the court quashed the existing authority, General Pinochet would be entitled to be freed. Mr Straw has given the interested parties until April 15 to make representations on whether the extradition case should still go ahead. Alun Jones QC, for the Spanish authorities, suggested the solution adopted by the judges on Monday to avoid a “disorderly scramble”. Lord Justice Laws said: “It seems to me that the interests of justice and the duty of this court are to achieve a situation consistent with the decision of the House of Lords last week in which the Secretary of State may reconsider the merits of this matter expeditiously but in an orderly fashion.” During the 90-minute hearing, Lord Justice Laws said it would not be right for the court to exercise its jurisdiction “in such a way as might allow General Pinochet to be discharged and leave the country without the Secretary of State having the opportunity to reconsider the merits of this matter”. Mr Clive Nicholls QC, for General Pinochet, argued that the application for habeas corpus should not be delayed as the first authority to proceed issued by Mr Straw plainly could not stand. But the judges rejected Mr Nicholls’ argument after being told the Home Secretary wanted time to reconsider the case afresh “with a blank sheet of paper”. The Law Lords held that, while General Pinochet did not have blanket sovereign immunity, he was nevertheless immune from extradition for crimes allegedly committed up to December 8, 1988, when the international Torture Convention became binding on Spain, the UK and Chile. This cut the 32 charges originally under consideration — of conspiracy to murder, hostage-taking, torture and conspiracy to torture — to just two charges of conspiracy to torture and one of torture. — The Guardian,
London |
IRA identifies graves of victims, says sorry BELFAST, March 30 (AP) — The Irish Republican Army (IRA), seeking to deflect attention from incessant demands to start disarming, has announced that it has identified the burial spots of nine victims and was “sorry that this has taken so long.’’ The British and Irish Governments welcomed the IRA’s initiative and pledged to draft new laws preventing any IRA member from being charged in connection with any uncovered graves. The statement went some way toward meeting the demands of a pressure group called Families of the Disappeared, which has campaigned for five years for the IRA to admit its responsibility for abducting and killing 19 civilians whose remains were never found. The IRA acknowledged
yesterday that its members killed nine of the people in
question from 1972 to 1981, but claimed that those slain
had confessed to IRA interrogators that they were British
spies or had stolen IRA guns. The IRA denied any
responsibility for killing the other 10 missing people. |
‘Eastside’ role written for villain Gulshan HOLLYWOOD, March 30 (IANS) — It is not common in Hollywood for an actor who lives and works outside the USA and is not a draw at the box office to be cast in a role written specifically for him. But that’s the fortunate turn of events that has brought Gulshan Grover, Bollywood’s premier villain, to Hollywood, where for the past two weeks he has been in front of the cameras playing the lead henchman opposite Latino heartthrob Mario Lopez in co-producer Ravi Chopra’s production of ‘Eastside’. The idea of casting Grover came to Chopra last year when he had already got Kingsize Entertainment producer Mark Roberts interested in making a feature-length film. At that time both Roberts and his partner, director Lorena David, were already familiar with Grover’s work, having seen him play the villain in Jagmohan Mundhra’s ‘Monsoon’. “We thought he was the best thing in the movie,” Roberts told the California newspaper India-West. “We enjoyed him so much that we thought any chance we get to work with him we’re going to give it a shot.” Having got the green light to develop the project, Chopra then arranged for screenwriter Eric Sherman, who had been hired to write the ‘Eastside’ script, to meet Grover over dinner. As the two hit it off, Sherman began seeing ways he could fit Grover into the story. “I didn’t even know anything about him at the time,” Sherman later confided. “It was just the way he looked and the presence he had that impressed me.” Sherman went home and began writing into the script a character he named Gulshan “because I didn’t want there to be any doubt that they could give the role to anyone else but him,” he said. “So I was thrilled when I found out that he was going to fly in from India to do the part.” The story, as conceived by Chopra, centres on a young man, (played by Lopez, best known for his work on the “Pacific Blue” television series) who upon his release from jail gets a job with the Mexican mafia through his attorney brother. For years Chopra, who grew up with distant relatives in the film business in Mumbai, had been waiting for his chance to break into movies. To have a star of Grover’s stature in his first effort “is a dream come true,” he admitted. Director Lorena David had auditioned several other actors for the role. “In fact, I heard the other day that Anthony Quinn’s son came to audition for the part,” Grover remarked, adding with a hearty laugh, “But I’m the best.” Having starred in 275
films in Bollywood, Grover has come to appreciate the
kind of work he can do in Hollywood. “In India we do
everything over the top, in inverted commas,” he
said, “while in this film my character is very
silent, very steeled.” |
Khmer leaders’ trial only in Cambodia: PM PHNOM PENH, March 30 (ANI) — The trial of all Khmer Rouge leaders will be conducted in Cambodia and under local law, Prime Minister Hun Sen told a visiting U.S. Senator today. In his hour-long talks
with Senator Mitch McConnel, the chairman of the Senate
subcommittee for Foreign Aid, Mr Hun Sen said the
Cambodian Government would use its existing courts and
laws to deal with the crimes committed by Khmer Rouge
leaders during their four-year-long rule between 1975 and
1979. |
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| Migrants’ plea: HC dismisses
case HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s high court on Tuesday ruled against 17 mainland Chinese claiming the right to remain here while applying for residency, in a test case that could have eased entry for thousands of migrants. The court of final appeal ruled that all children of Hong Kong residents have the right of abode here, irrespective of whether their parents were married or had residency at the time of birth. But the government has insisted that even if the mainlanders are eligible for abode they must return to China to apply. — AFP Greenpeace
men freed Iraqi disarmament Disgruntled
jobless Skyscape in London |
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