Muslim League wins 5 seats in PoK
ISLAMABAD, Nov 5 — Belying all poll predictions, deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Muslim League has won five seats in the 24-member Northern Areas Council (NAC) in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) against the lone seat it got in 1994.

Russia claims ‘hundreds’ dead
MOSCOW, Nov 5 — Russia’s military said its bombers and fighters had launched another barrage of raids on Chechnya today, wiping out hundreds of ‘’extremists’’, six weeks after Russian forces began their advance into the separatist region.

N. Korea ‘exporting’ missiles to Pak, Iran
WASHINGTON, Nov 5 — North Korea is secretly developing nuclear-armed missiles capable of hitting the USA and it has produced, deployed and exported missiles to Pakistan and Iran, a US Congressional Advisory Committee said .

Spice Girls to stay together
LONDON, Nov 5 — Multi-million selling pop sensations, the Spice Girls, launched a glossy picture book yesterday, but insisted they were staying together despite solo hits.

USA to pull out N-arms?
BRUSSELS, Nov 5 — The USA is preparing to withdraw some 200 nuclear warheads stored at bases in seven European NATO states, according to diplomatic and military sources here.

China for ‘military ties’ with USA
WASHINGTON, Nov 5 — China wants to resume military-to-military relations with the USA, which were suspended after a US bomber mistakenly struck the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade during the Kosovo air war, according to US Defence Secretary William Cohen.

India to sign Kyoto treaty by 2000-end
BERLIN, Nov 5 — India today said it would sign and ratify the Kyoto treaty by 2000 end and asked the USA and the European Union (EU) not to allow their differences to derail the implementation of the landmark accord on cutting emissions of polluting gases.

UK consulate in Mecca likely
LONDON: Britain is set to become the first western country to open a consulate in Mecca, the holy city in Saudi Arabia, which is closed to non-Muslims. Because of the strict bar on members of other faiths entering Mecca, any foreign office diplomats staffing the consulate will have to be Muslims.

Democracy not soon: Musharraf

LONDON, Nov 5 (PTI) — Pakistani Chief Executive Gen Pervez Musharraf has indicated that former Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto might be debarred from participating in politics and ruled out early return to democracy in the country in the near future.

"Both of them have betrayed the trust of the people. They were elected twice and rejected twice," General Musharraf said in an interview published in The Times newspaper today.

He said the future of the two former Prime Ministers would be decided by the newly set up National Accountability Bureau and civil courts.

Answering a specific query on restoration of democracy, he said there was no question of a return to democracy, at least in the near future. "I cannot give a time frame for a return of democratic rule until the main objective of reviving the economy is achieved," he said.

General Musharraf said a deadline would only generate political instability. "Whenever you give a time frame, a countdown starts and administration comes to a halt," he added. He put the blame for failure of democracy on politicians, who, he said, lacked sincerity and good governance.

"Politics has become a game for rich people who misguide illiterate and poor people. It was a sham democracy where people did not have any say," he said.

In his first extensive interview to a foreign newspaper at his sprawling colonial mansion in the heart of Rawalpindi cantonment, General Musharraf presented his plan for devolution of power at district and city levels, which he said would allow people greater participation in running their affairs.

General Musharraf, who assumed power last month in what he describes as a "counter coup", said, "It is a tough job, but a feeling of being in charge and having confidence makes it enjoyable."

"There’s greater realisation among the international community that the military take-over was prompted by the previous government’s action," he declared.

"The army action was absolutely a reactive event. It was not a coup but a counter coup against the government’s illegal action of sacking the chief," General Musharraf said.

Mr Sharif dismissed Gen Musharraf on October 12 when the Army Chief was returning from a visit to Sri Lanka and appointed the then ISI Chief Gen Khawaja Ziauddin in his place. But a swift action by pro-chief army commanders brought an end to Sharif government.

According to the report, the General was visibly emotional when he narrated how his plane, carrying 190 passengers, was refused permission to land at Karachi airport.

"The pilot was told to take the plane to India or crash it. They were so scared of me that they were prepared to risk the lives of innocent passengers. There was only five minutes’ fuel left when the plane finally landed after the military took over control of the airport," he said.

ISLAMABAD: US President Bill Clinton has not yet decided whether to include Pakistan in his planned South Asia tour next year, a news report quoting US Ambassador William B. Milam said on Friday.

Press reports have suggested that Mr Clinton may visit India and Bangladesh around February 2000.

Mr Milam said the USA was unhappy with the October 12 overthrow of the elected government in Pakistan and was waiting to see what policies the new military administration adopted, the official news agency APP reported.

SAARC summit to be postponed

COLOMBO, Nov 5 (AP) — Sri Lanka will postpone a seven-nation regional summit that India said should not be held due to the military take-over in Pakistan, a Foreign Ministry official said today.

Romesh Jayasinghe said the Sri Lankan Government was likely to send letters tomorrow to member states of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to inform them of the postponement.

“SAARC works by unanimity, but unanimity no longer exists,” he said.

India had yesterday urged the chairperson of the meeting, Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga, to defer the November 26 to November 28 conference in Kathmandu, because of “concern and disquiet” over the military coup in Pakistan.

SAARC’s charter allows any member to postpone a summit on request.

Mr Jayasinghe, who heads the SAARC division in Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry, said it was unclear when the conference would be rescheduled.

“I don’t think a new date can be given,” he said.

AFP adds from Kathmandu: Earlier in the day Nepal’s state radio said the Foreign Ministry had received a written request from India asking that the SAARC meeting be postponed because of the military coup in Pakistan.

Kathmandu had earlier received a verbal request from New Delhi to delay the summit, but it insisted on a written request.

A Foreign Ministry official said despite the situation in Pakistan “the Nepalese Government is going ahead with full-scale preparations to hold the 11th SAARC summit.”

ISLAMABAD (ANI): The Pakistan Government yesterday reacted sharply to India’s demand for the postponment of the SAARC summit saying the summit scheduled for November 26-28 in Kathmandu should go ahead.

A statement issued by the Pakistan Foreign Office said “Pakistan has learnt that India has suggested the postponement of the forthcoming SAARC summit scheduled to be held in Kathmandu on November 26-28.”

The statement went on to say that there was no precedent of postponing a SAARC summit on the basis of political change in any of its member countries adding “SAARC must neither allow itself to be dictated by one country nor should it fall victim to the prejudices of one member against another.”

Chandrika for direct talks with Tigers
5 UNP members defect

COLOMBO, Nov 5 (PTI) — Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga today said she would go ahead with a dialogue with the LTTE over her package of autonomy proposals as soon as it was “practically possible” and without waiting for reaction from the main Opposition United National Party.

“I intend to no longer wait for you to respond to the proposals we made four years ago. Instead I intend to initiate discussions with the LTTE as soon as it is practically possible,” Ms Kumaratunga told UNP leader Ranil Wickramasinghe in her second letter to him in less than a month.

Against the backdrop of renewed fierce fighting between government troops and Tamil rebels, the President said she had waited for “four long years” to develop a national consensus over her peace proposals to solve the ethnic problem and now could no longer wait for the UNP to respond.

Ms Kumaratunga, who is seeking re-election in the mid-term polls on December 21, wrote to her arch-rival last month asking him to make his stand clear to seek a time-bound negotiation to solve the ethnic crisis.

Mr Wickramasinghe responded saying he had no objection to the resumption of negotiations between the government, UNP and LTTE but had not given any firm commitment on a time-frame.

With the Presidential polls round the corner, Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has launched an offensive against the opposition United National Party (UNP) by engineering a significant amount of defection among middle-rung leaders of the UNP to gain an upper hand in the December 21 election.

A group of 25 prominent regional leaders of the UNP including five members of Parliament today met Chandrika and her senior cabinet colleagues at the President’s official residence and expressed their willingness to support her.

Prominent among the leaders who defected included former minister Wijayapala Mendis.

The leaders said that they would continue to function as a separate block in the UNP but work along with Chandrika in developing the country.

A significant gain for Chandrika was the defection of Sushil Moonasinghe, who was projected as a presidential candidate by some extreme Buddhist organisations. He has now expressed his support for her to defeat UNP leader, Ranil Wickramasinghe.

Meanwhile, Tamil Tiger rebels today claimed to have taken over a third government military base in northern Sri Lanka and killed over 1,000 government troops during the past three days of fierce fightings.

After capturing two strategic small towns in north-eastern Vanni in the fighting which began on Tuesday, the LTTE claimed this morning that its forces managed to overrun army defence lines at several places on the highway connecting northern government held Vavuniya town with rebel-held Kilinochchi.

“After several hours of sustained fighting the LTTE units destroyed several mini camps at Ampakamam today and caused heavy casualties to the enemy”, the LTTE said in a statement from London.

However, the army officials admitted to a loss of over 300 to 500 soldiers with injuries to another 2,000 quoting initial estimates.

Muslim League wins 5 seats in PoK

ISLAMABAD, Nov 5 (UNI) — Belying all poll predictions, deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Muslim League has won five seats in the 24-member Northern Areas Council (NAC) in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) against the lone seat it got in 1994.

Elections, the second in the past 53 years, were held in this occupied territory on Wednesday and the results were out yesterday. Like in 1994, local parties boycotted the polls saying they offered no solution to the problems of the local people.

Besides the Muslim League, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Tehrik-i-Jaaferia, Pakistan (TJP) participated in the polls and won six and five seats, respectively. Independents clinched eight seats, the same as in 1994.

The elections were a serious setback for the TJP, a Shia party, which saw a drop in the number of seats won (from eight to five), despite the Northern areas being Shia-dominated.

After the ouster of the Muslim League government in Pakistan it was being predicted that the party would not be able to win even a single seat. But it appears that voters in the Northern areas have developed a sympathy for the party.

These elections were held despite stiff resistance from parties, like the Jammat-i-Islami, who said the military government was ignoring the Supreme Court order of May this year, that suggested an amendment of the constitution and regulations to provide justice to the local people.

Russia claims ‘hundreds’ dead

MOSCOW, Nov 5 (Reuters) — Russia’s military said its bombers and fighters had launched another barrage of raids on Chechnya today, wiping out hundreds of ‘’extremists’’, six weeks after Russian forces began their advance into the separatist region.

On Chechnya’s border with Ingushetia, thousands of refugees fleeing the upsurge in fighting moved freely for the second straight day after the Russian authorities reopened a clogged checkpoint, Ria news agency said private cars were being allowed through for the first time.

Russia’s army headquarters at Mozdok, just outside Chechnya, was quoted as saying that aircraft had made more than 100 sorties over Chechnya during the last 24 hours.

Interfax news agency quoted officials as saying the raids had killed hundreds of Islamic fighters and damaged their bases and camps.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said in a statement that the aircraft had struck bases and storehouses in a series of villages southwest of the regional capital Grozny.

Moscow has so far resisted growing pressure from the west to open negotiations with the Chechen leadership and vowed to press on with its campaign to destroy the Islamic fighters it accuses of staging devastating bomb blasts in Russian cities.

The fighters, often outside the control of Chechen’s leaders, say they have nothing to do with the explosions.

N. Korea ‘exporting’ missiles to Pak, Iran

WASHINGTON, Nov 5 (PTI) — North Korea is secretly developing nuclear-armed missiles capable of hitting the USA and it has produced, deployed and exported missiles to Pakistan and Iran, a US Congressional Advisory Committee said .

“There is significant evidence that nuclear weapons development is continuing by North Korea...and Pyongyang’s ‘missile capabilities and proliferation activities have increased dramatically in the last five years,” the committee set up by the House Speaker, Mr J. Dennis Hastert, said in a new 75-page report.

Republican Congressman Christopher Cok, a key member of the committee, told the Washington Times that North Korea was developing nuclear weapons and missiles despite assurance to the USA.

“It is the physics package,” he said about the nature of the North Korean activity on nuclear weapons.

A classified report issued on October 19 has been quoted by the Washington Times as saying that North Korea is continuing to refine its multistage Taepo Dong missile. The Taepo Dong-2 under development is described as an intercontinental ballistic missile.

North Korea reportedly has high confidence in the missile and hence it may deploy the weapon without any flight testing, intelligence reports said.

Spice Girls to stay together

LONDON, Nov 5 (Reuters) — Multi-million selling pop sensations, the Spice Girls, launched a glossy picture book yesterday, but insisted they were staying together despite solo hits.

While Baby, Sporty, Scary and Posh Spice all skirted around their acrimonious bust-up with ex-Spice Girl Geri “Ginger Spice” Halliwell the quartet said there was no chance the band would suffer because of their budding solo careers.

The break with Halliwell last year put a heavy strain on the band, which, with sales of over 20 million albums, is Britain’s biggest pop success since the Beetles.

Sporty Spice is already enjoying solo success, Scary Spice has also released less-well received covers, Posh is looking to move into films and Baby Spice has just released her first single-ironically locked in a battle with Halliwell for the top of the British pop charts.

Posh, whose real name is Victoria Adams, is rarely off the front pages of Britain’s tabloid newspapers, usually featuring alongside her equally famous husband, footballer David Beckham.

Britain’s tabloids splashed claims that Halliwell is embroiled in a romance with radio disc jockey and television celebrity Chris Evans across their front pages, even suggesting the red-haired pair might get married.

“If it is true, congratulations and good luck,” Sporty told reporters at the launch of their glossy picture book ‘Forever Spice’ in central London. “But ooh, imagine the kids,” she added, bursting into peals of laughter.

Both, Halliwell and Evans, are often lambasted in the press she for her heavy use of cosmetics, he for his heavy framed glasses and both for their pallid complexions and shocks of naturally auburn hair.

And as for romance?

While Scary and Posh are both married with children, Baby and Sporty kept tight-lipped about romance, ruling out having children of their own any time soon

USA to pull out N-arms?

BRUSSELS, Nov 5 (AFP) — The USA is preparing to withdraw some 200 nuclear warheads stored at bases in seven European NATO states, according to diplomatic and military sources here.

The decision could be announced in December at one of the two NATO ministerial meetings in Brussels, the sources said yesterday.

News of the possible nuclear scale-down came in the wake of revelations last month that up to 200 US nuclear warheads were still based in seven European countries.

A statement from the Pentagon in Washington yesterday said it had no information on any such announcement.

“NATO maintains a small nuclear deterrent and I have no information suggesting that’s about to change.”

A military source in Brussels told AFP: “Today, it is hard to see why these American nuclear bombs are in Europe.”

The type of weapons involved were virtually obsolete today, the source added.

China for ‘military ties’ with USA

WASHINGTON, Nov 5 (AFP) — China wants to resume military-to-military relations with the USA, which were suspended after a US bomber mistakenly struck the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade during the Kosovo air war, according to US Defence Secretary William Cohen.

China conveyed its decision to resume the military relationship in meetings in Beijing last week with Under Secretary of State Thomas Pickering, Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said.

“They have indicated they would like to re-establish these contacts”, Mr Cohen told reporters at a press conference with visiting Spanish Defence Minister Eduardo Serra yesterday.

Mr Kurt Campbell, Deputy Assistant Secretary of defence for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, is scheduled to visit China later this month with an officer from the US Pacific Command.

India to sign Kyoto treaty by 2000-end

BERLIN, Nov 5 (PTI) — India today said it would sign and ratify the Kyoto treaty by 2000 end and asked the USA and the European Union (EU) not to allow their differences to derail the implementation of the landmark accord on cutting emissions of polluting gases.

Environment Minister T.R. Baalu told newsmen here that India would be a party to the 1997 Kyoto protocol before the next round of multilateral negotiations to chart out rules for lowering greenhouse gas emissions is concluded in Hague in November 2000.

UK consulate in Mecca likely

LONDON: Britain is set to become the first western country to open a consulate in Mecca, the holy city in Saudi Arabia, which is closed to non-Muslims. Because of the strict bar on members of other faiths entering Mecca, any foreign office diplomats staffing the consulate will have to be Muslims.

The consulate will operate for just a few weeks each year, during the annual Haj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, when around 1.2 m Muslims from all over the world congregate for rituals at sacred sites.

—The Guardian, London

35 cops killed
TEHERAN: Drug smugglers have killed 35 Iranian border police and wounded five on the Pakistani border in the southeast of the country, Iranian state-run radio reported on Thursday. Drug smugglers, said to be Afghan and linked to a group in Pakistan, were also killed in a heavy exchange of gunfire in Iran-Shahr.— DPA

6 Indians deported
DAR ES SALAAM (Tanzania): The Tanzanian immigration authorities have deported six Indian nationals found engaging illegally in gemstone trading, the government-owned Daily News reported on Thursday. The deportees had been caught buying pieces of the precious Tanzanite stones without authorisation. — AFP

Award for Gorbachev
BERLIN: Germany will award former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev with its highest distinction for his contribution to German reunification, President Johannes Rau’s office said on Thursday. President Rau will give Mr Gorbachev the ‘Bundesverdien-stkreuz’ (Cross of Merit) during a private dinner on Sunday. — AFP

Chavez’s rule extended
CARACAS: A Venezuelan Assembly packed with allies of President Hugo Chavez passed a constitutional article on Thursday that paves the way for the former paratrooper to rule the country for another 12 years. The article extends the presidential term to six from five years and allows immediate re-election to another six-year term under the existing 1961 constitution. — Reuters

8 killed in clash
JAKARTA: At least eight persons were killed and 200 homes burned in a fresh communal clash in the Eastern Indonesian strife-torn province of Maluku, it was reported on Friday. More than 700 residents of Tidore island of Maluku’s central Halmahera district went on a rampage on late Wednesday night, burning homes and local government offices. — DPA