Most Pakistanis back action
ISLAMABAD, Oct 15 — Around 75 per cent of the people in Pakistan approved the removal of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in an army coup, a sample survey conducted by the private gallup organisation has said.

USA warns India, Pak
WASHINGTON, Oct 15 — The US President, Mr Bill Clinton, has asked India and Pakistan not to take advantage of the Senate rejection of the CTBT and warned that their economies will be hurt and future endangered if they carry out further nuclear tests and build nuclear arsenals.

Sharif ‘still leader’ of Pak Assembly
ISLAMABAD, Oct 15 — The acting Speaker of Pakistan’s National Assembly, Chaudhry Jaffer Iqbal, has said that deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is still the Leader of the House.

UN Council seat for B’desh
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 15 — Bangladesh, Mali, Tunisia, Jamaica and Ukraine have been elected by the General Assembly as non permanent members of the Security Council for a two-year term beginning January 1 next year.

USA gives India 15 months to lift import curbs

BERLIN, Oct 15 (PTI) — The USA has unequivocally said it is willing to give India not more than 15 months to dismantle import curbs on over 2,000 agricultural, textile and industrial products.

The US position in its trade dispute with India on quantitative restrictions on Indian imports was outlined before the dispute settlement body (DSB) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva yesterday.

India and the USA formerly informed the DSB they had agreed to make a fresh attempt to negotiate before the November 6 deadline this year a time frame for phasing out the former’s import curbs.

"The USA told the DSB that it does not intend to agree to anything more than 15 months time for India to remove its import curbs", a WTO official said.

India while reaffirming its commitment to work out a mutually agreed solution with the USA said it would need a "reasonable period of time" to end quantitative restrictions on imports of the identified products and referred to the report of the three-member dispute settlement panel.

The panel had ruled that at least 15 months could be given to India after the adoption of the report and the phase-out period could be even "longer" than 15 months in view of India’s status as a developing country.

The panel report was endorsed by the seven-member appellate body which rejected India’s contention justifying import curbs on balance of payment grounds.

Holding that the restrictions were inconsistent with GATT rules, the reports of the panel and the appellate body asked India to bring its balance of payment restrictions on import of goods into conformity with its obligations under the GATT agreement.

The two reports were adopted by the DSB on September 23 bringing the over three-year Indo-US dispute one step closer to a solution by paving the way for negotiations.

With the core issue in the dispute being the duration of the phase-out period that could be granted to India, the USA has been pressing for a speedier elimination of import curbs and shorter time frame than the phase-out period negotiated by India with six other countries, including the EU as a group.

The panel justified a period longer than 15 months for the phase-out period on the grounds that India’s trading partners had reached a mutually agreed solution on the same issue of duration of lifting import curbs.

India had in the past two years successfully negotiated the six-year phase-out period ending 2003 with Australia, Canada, the 15-country European Union, Japan, Switzerland and New Zealand.

Nobel for Doctors without Borders

OSLO, Oct 15 (Reuters) — Medical aid charity Medecins sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders) won the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize today.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee praised its "pioneering humanitarian work on several continents".

Founded in 1971, Medecins sans Frontieres calls itself the world’s first non-military, non-governmental organisation to specialise in emergency medical assistance.

It has frequently been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. The award was probably a relief for Beijing, which had feared that Chinese dissidents might win the last Nobel award of the 20th century.

Among its founders was former French Health Minister Bernard Kouchner, currently the interim UN Administrator in Kosovo. The MSF traces its roots to outrage caused by images of starving children during the Biafran war in Nigeria in 1970.

The prize, worth 7.9 million Swedish crowns ($ 980,000) is to be handed over in Oslo on December 10. Today’s prize was the last Nobel award of this century — prizes for economics, physics, literature, medicine and chemistry were announced in Stockholm earlier this month.

PARIS: Medecins sans Frontieres, the French medical aid group that finally won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday after years of playing runner-up, set the trend for independent humanitarian missions almost three decades ago.

Now a fixed part of the relief scene, private aid groups were all but unknown when the MSF or Doctors without Borders, as it is sometimes known in English — was founded in 1971 by doctors caring for victims of the Biafran civil war.

The strict limits on established groups such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) prompted activist doctors, including the current United Nations coordinator for Kosovo Bernard Kouchner, to launch a new movement that combines relief aid and human rights advocacy.

In the years that followed, the MSF spread around the world. It now has 23 offices around the world and sends more than 2,000 volunteers to some 80 countries annually.

It played a key role in this year’s biggest humanitarian crises, in Kosovo and East Timor, where its doctors were the last medical aid workers to leave the strife-torn regions at the height of the fighting and among the first to return.

The MSF has been mentioned so often as a possible winner that it gave up hoping for the prize. "I’m sure we won’t get it," a spokeswoman told Reuters minutes before the prize was announced. "It’s not possible — we’ve been nominated so many times," she added.

The MSF now counts more than 45 nationalities in its ranks. Its budget amounts to more than $ 250 million, raised in almost equal parts from private contributions and institutional donors.

With the fall of communism in eastern Europe, MSF broke new ground providing medical aid not to third world countries but to industrialised states with woefully inadequate health services.

It launched an AIDS prevention centre in Moscow, a tuberculosis treatment project in Siberia, a polio vaccination campaign in Albania and public health programmes in Uzbekistan.

Fresh US sanctions on Pak likely

WASHINGTON, Oct 15 (UNI) — The Clinton Administration is considering the imposition of a fresh dose of economic sanctions on Pakistan in protest against its military’s action in toppling the elected government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Karl Inderfurth, during a Senate panel hearing yesterday on the “political crisis in Pakistan” drew attention to Section 508 of the Foreign Operations Appropriations Act which “contains a prohibition against a broad range of assistance for a country whose democratically elected head of government is deposed by military coup or decree.”

“We are now in the process of making the legal determination that such sanctions should be applied,” he added. He, however, hastened to add, “as a practical matter, most forms of assistance were already prohibited for Pakistan under the Glenn Amendment and other statutory restrictions.”

Earlier, Mr Inderfurth agreed with the assessment of Senate panel chairman Sam Brownback (Republican) that what had happened in Islamabad on Tuesday was a military coup under any normal definition. “Indeed, the definition does meet that of Section 508, and as I said in my (written) testimony, we are preparing the formal legal determination of that now.”

Indications here are that the USA would formally decide on the sanctions only after hearing from its Ambassador to Pakistan Bill Milam, who met coup leader, General Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad.

The USA called upon the military authorities to ensure their safety.

Meanwhile the White House has reacted cautiously to the Pakistan army’s declaration of a state of emergency, saying it was seeking more details about events in the South Asian country.

“We are closely monitoring the situation, the apparent announcement of a state of emergency, and are seeking further information”, said National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters): The head of a right-wing Islamic party today hailed the Pakistan army’s imposition of a state of emergency, saying it had saved the country.

“I give full support, rather, I would say millions of people are giving their full support to the armed forces because they are looking at (Pervez) Musharraf as a saviour,” said Tahir-ul-Qadri, head of Pakistan Awami Tehrik.

Qadri said the army did not impose martial law or use that term because it was “pro-democracy”.

Qadri, a leader of the 19-party Grand Democratic Alliance opposition umbrella group that campaigned to oust Mr Sharif, said the army must now start “ruthless accountability” and begin the process of economic revival before it holds elections.

“I won’t suggest direct elections without accountability and without economic revival,” he said.

Reuters adds: The Pakistan military’s declaration of an emergency and suspension of the Constitution raised many worrying questions about the future political and economic direction of the country, diplomats said today.

“They have not said much about the future,” said one western diplomat based in the Pakistani capital.

He said two statements released by the military did not say for how long the Constitution would be suspended or when possible elections would be held.

“It might be for a short period, or it might be for a long period. We don’t know. It does not cut out the possibility of civilian rule at some point, we just don’t know when,” he said.

“They have not said no to that (civilian rule) but we had hoped there would be a pointer in that direction.”

World leaders have issued a stream of calls since the coup which overthrew Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday, urging the military to restore democracy and hold elections as soon as possible.

TOKYO (AFP): Japan summoned Pakistan’s Ambassador today to urge Islamabad to restore civilian rule as Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi said Japan was watching the situation with “grave concern”.

“Such a move goes against democracy and we are extremely concerned”, Mr Obuchi said of the military takeover.

“Japan strongly hopes that the situation will be settled as early as possible by democratic and constitutional procedures”, he told reporters. “We will monitor the development of the situation with grave concern”.

Israel frees 151 more Palestinians, Arabs

DUBAI, Oct 15 (UNI) — Israel today released 151 more Palestinian prisoners in line with its commitment under a peace deal signed at Sharm al Sheikh in Egypt last month.

Regional news agencies quoted a spokesman for the Israeli Prisons Department as saying that the prisoners would be handed over to the Palestinian authorities at the crossroads leading to Hebron, Tulkarem, Ramallah and the Gaza Strip.

About 110 of the prisoners were Palestinians and the rest Arabs of different nationalities. None of those released were accused of of killing Israelis, the news agencies said.

Television pictures showed the prisoners boarding buses and smiling and waving the victory sign to newspersons and cameramen. Many of them were in tears as they longed to meet their near and dear ones.

Col. Jibril al-Rajoub, head of the Palestinian preventive security apparatus in the West Bank, welcomed the Israeli move, saying, “It contributes to the building of confidence between the two sides and would encourage the PNA (Palestinian National Authority) to fight terrorism”.

The prisoners were to be released on October 1 but the Palestinian and Israeli negotiators developed serious differences over the list of prisoners to be set free. Israel contended that it would not release the prisoners accused of carrying anti-Israeli acts while the Palestinians asserted that they could not be dictated on the issue.

Palestinians rejected the names of about 30 prisoners to be set free, saying they were anyway due to have served out their sentences by early next year.

The two sides returned later to the negotiating table and worked out an agreement in principle on Tuesday and met again on Wednesday to settle the final list.

Under the Sharm al Sheikh accord signed between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, the prisoners to be freed must have committed their offences before the interim Oslo peace agreement signed in 1993 and arrested before another deal reached in 1994.

Most Pakistanis back action

ISLAMABAD, Oct 15 (AFP) — Around 75 per cent of the people in Pakistan approved the removal of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in an army coup, a sample survey conducted by the private gallup organisation has said.

But only one-third of them favoured direct military rule while the remaining two-thirds wanted civilian alternatives, it said yesterday.

The gallup poll was conducted with a randomly drawn sample of more than 850 men and women in the urban centres of the country. It comprised a cross-section of people from different ages, incomes and linguistic backgrounds.

From within civilian choices, approximately 75 per cent called for a government of non-political reputable experts.

The support for returning government to the former ruling Pakistan, Muslim League party leaders, including Sharif, was less than 10 per cent and the support for forming a national government of leaders of political parties was less than 15 per cent, it added.

It said the snap poll was conducted on Wednesday, the day after Mr Sharif was removed in an army coup after his 31-month rule. But it cautioned that opinions on such issues could be quite volatile and could change fairly rapidly in response to the unfolding situation.

It said some 60 per cent of the people preferred election after two to three years.

A majority was not very hopeful of a turn-around in the economic situation in the post-Sharif setup. Only 25 per cent were hopeful of a respite in inflation or unemployment while 80 per cent were optimistic the law and order situation would improve, it said.

USA warns India, Pak

WASHINGTON, Oct 15 (PTI, Reuters) — The US President, Mr Bill Clinton, has asked India and Pakistan not to take advantage of the Senate rejection of the CTBT and warned that their economies will be hurt and future endangered if they carry out further nuclear tests and build nuclear arsenals.

“Let me say to India and Pakistan: Do not take (Senate) vote as a sign that America does not care whether you resume nuclear testing and build up your nuclear arsenals. We do care. You should not do it,” he told a press conference at the White House yesterday.

“It (nuclear testing and building nuclear arsenals) is not necessary. It will hurt your economy and endanger your future,” Mr Clinton said.

Sharif ‘still leader’ of Pak Assembly

ISLAMABAD, Oct 15 (IANS) — The acting Speaker of Pakistan’s National Assembly, Chaudhry Jaffer Iqbal, has said that deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is still the Leader of the House.

Iqbal, who is acting for National Assembly Speaker Ilahi Bakhsh Soomro, away on a visit to Germany, said Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML), to which he also belongs, would chalk out a policy in view of the recent developments, NNI news agency reported.

In a proclamation late on Thursday, the Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who overthrew Sharif’s government on Tuesday, assumed sweeping powers and suspended the National and Provincial Assemblies.

Meanwhile, the former Interior Minister, Shujaat Hussain, and the former Kashmir and Northern Areas Affairs Minister, Lt-Gen (retd) Majeed Malik, were put under house arrest on Thursday.

Troops surrounded the residences of both former ministers. The staff working at Hussain’s residence was ordered to leave and nobody was allowed to meet him. But Malik was allowed to meet close relatives. He was also granted permission to leave the house to offer prayers at a nearby mosque.

UN Council seat for B’desh

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 15 (PTI) — Bangladesh, Mali, Tunisia, Jamaica and Ukraine have been elected by the General Assembly as non permanent members of the Security Council for a two-year term beginning January 1 next year.

They will replace Bahrain, Brazil, Gabon, Gambia and Slovenia whose terms ends on December 31, this year.

The members are selected on regional basis and generally decision is taken months in advance by their respective groups. But if there are differences, a contest takes place.

This year Bangladesh, Mali and Tunisia were endorsed by the Asian and African group and Jamaica by the Latin American and the Caribbean group.

Rapist put to death
HUNTSVILLE (TEXAS): A man who raped and killed an 18-year-old woman in 1986 was executed by lethal injection in a Texas prison on Thursday. Jerry McFadden, 51, was pronounced dead at 6:16 P.M. (local time) eight minutes after an injection with a lethal mix of chemicals. He was the second inmate put to death in Texas this week. (Reuters)

Nancy Reagan hurt
LOS ANGELES: Former First Lady Nancy Reagan, 78, is recovering from a fall in her Bel Air home in which she fractured a rib, her spokesman said on Thursday. “She fell while searching for some photos and broke a rib,” said her spokeswoman Joanne Drake, adding that Reagan was “in quite a bit of pain.” (AFP)

Traces of virus
PARIS: France’s Pasteur Institute has said it had for the first time found traces of the lethal and mysterious ebola virus in small, non-primate mammals — an important step in discovering its source. The virus causes haemorrhagic fever in humans with mortality rates of up to 90 per cent. (Reuters)

Mexican floods
MEXICO CITY: The number of confirmed deaths in the flooding and mudslides that began last week stands at 360, the Mexican Government has said. The government reported on Thursday that 179 municipalities had been affected by the floods, with more than 3,00,000 people displaced, and more that 70,000 being lodged in 476 shelters. (AFP)