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| Saturday, February 5, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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Russia to cut troops in Chechnya State by year-end: Arafat |
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Clinton may visit
Pakistan More Russian ships ‘trying to
help Iraq’ Bail for NRI in slaves’ case Wiranto mum on quit order Pak to cooperate on Laden, not
democracy Father’s murder avenged
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Acceptance of Nazi crimes ‘not
enough’ LISBON, Feb 4 (Reuters, AFP) — Austria’s European Union allies will impose a threatened freeze on bilateral political relations with a Vienna Government that includes Joerg Haider’s far-Right party from today, Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres said. Speaking at a news conference, Mr Guterres, whose country now holds the presidency (by rotation) of the European Union, said Austria’s partners had no option but to carry out their threat after Austrian President Thomas Klestil announced he would swear in the new government today. "As from tomorrow the measures agreed by the 14 countries will take effect,’’ Mr Guterres said. "As long as this situation remains, we shall maintain this stance.’’ Austria’s EU partners had agreed on Monday to freeze bilateral ties, limit diplomatic contacts to a ‘’technical level’’ and not back any Austrian candidacy for international organisations if Haider’s Freedom Party was past of the government. "The Portuguese Government rejects profoundly the formation of a new Austrian Government with the presence of the Freedom Party,’’ the Lisbon Government said in a later statement. As EU President, Portugal would do everything it could to ‘’guarantee the preservation of the values and principles of humanism and democratic tolerance that lie at the base of the European project.’’ It was these values that the Freedom Party of Haider, best known for remarks appearing to play down the crimes of the Nazis, "has repeatedly put in doubt,’’ it added. Mr Haider and his coalition partner, conservative leader Wolfgang Schuessel, issued a statement yesterday pledging racial tolerance and repudiation of Austria’s Nazi past. Austrian President Thomas Klestil’s office announced yesterday he would approve a coalition government between the Freedom Party and the mainstream conservative People’s Party. "From now on, we will scrutinise the behaviour of the new Austrian Government," Mr Guterres said. He added that the 14 EU governments were not required to discuss applying the sanctions, explaining that they were already clearly set out and "the decisions automatically come into force." President Klestils invitation to the two parties ended four months of political stalemate since the October 3 elections in which Haider’s Freedom Party redrew Austria’s political map. But the entry of the extreme-Rightist party into government with conservatives is expected to unleash a wave of international disapproval isolating the Alpine country. Within hours of the announcement, both France and Portugal said they would be implementing threatened EU sanctions immediately. French President Jacques Chirac’s spokeswoman, Catherine Colonna, said: "If necessary, new measures could be decided." In an apparent bid to soften Austria’s collision course with its EU partners, President Klestil asked Haider and Schuessel to sign a declaration acknowledging Vienna’s co-responsibility in Nazi-era crimes. "Austria accepts her responsibility arising out of the tragic history of the 20th century and the horrendous crimes of the national Socialist regime," said the document. But that statement did little to alloy EU fears. The head of the socialist group in the European parliament said Haider’s signature of the declaration on Austria’s Nazi past is "not sufficient." Before agreeing to the coalition deal, Mr Klestil sought changes to ministerial proposals by the two parties, which together have 104 seats in the 183-member Parliament. Each won 52 seats in the election. While Schuessel will become Chancellor, Haider reiterated he will stay out of the government and remain Governor of Corinthia. But a key freedom party figure, Susanne Riess-Passer, will be Vice-Chancellor, while the far right party will also control the finance, justice, social affairs, defence and infrastructure portfolios. Meanwhile Israeli ambassador to Austria left for home today in a protest against the inclusion of Haider’s Freedom Party in the new Austrian Government, an embassy spokeswoman said. Ambassador Nathan Meron took off from Vienna airport on a trip to Israel that had already been planned, but he would not return as scheduled, she told Reuters. Mr Meron, who is also
ambassador to Slovakia, had flown home to accompany
Slovakian President Rudolf Schuster on a visit to Israel.
"He will remain in Israel indefinitely because of
the political situation in Austria," the spokeswoman
said. |
Pak regime appoints 5 SC judges ISLAMABAD, Feb 4 (PTI) — The military regime has appointed five judges to the Supreme Court, raising their number to 12 in the apex court, while five posts still remain vacant. According to a notification, President Rafiq Tarar has appointed Justice Rashid Aziz, Chief Justice of Lahore High Court; Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui, Chief Justice of Sindh High Court; Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Chief Justice of Balochistan High Court; Qazi Farooq, former Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court and Justice Rana Bhagwan Das, judge of Sindh High Court, as judges of the Supreme Court, English daily ‘Dawn’ reported today. Justice Mohammad Allah Nawaz has been appointed Chief Justice of Lahore High Court succeeding Justice Aziz. Justice Deedar Hussain
Shah has been appointed Chief Justice of Sindh High Court
and Justice Javed Iqbal Chief Justice of Balochistan High
Court. |
Russia to cut troops in Chechnya MOSCOW, Feb 4 (DPA) — Russian troops in Chechnya today attacked 1,000 Islamic militants trapped in two villages after retreating from the capital Grozny, while the high command prepared to reduce the size of its forces in the republic, news reports said. Rebel fighters were mounting fierce resistance to encircling federal troops in Alkhan-Yurt and Sakan-Yurt, a few kilometres to the east of the city, and were trying to break out to high land in the south of the republic, news agencies said citing army spokesmen. While Russian and Chechen reports varied in numbers of casualties, it was clear many rebels died or were maimed in minefields during the withdrawal from Grozny this week, including some senior commanders. Chechen fighters and foreign mercenaries who remained were in disarray and reportedly offered only isolated resistance today. Some 400 "extremists" there were taken prisoner in the past few days and another 800 were preparing to lay down their weapons, Russian army officials said. In Moscow, the Deputy Chief of Army Staff, Gen Valery Manilov, said that "large formations of troops" would soon be withdrawn from the republic, ITAR-Tass reported, explaining that the move was a measured response to the "scope of the battle tasks ahead". According to various
estimates, between 100,000 and 140,000 servicemen are
involved in the operation. |
State by year-end: Arafat DUBAI, Feb 4 (UNI) — Palestinian President Yasser Arafat reiterated his determination to announce the establishment of a Palestinian state within this year even as his talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak about West Bank land crumbled last night. Regional news agencies quoted Mr Arafat as saying at a meeting of the Palestinian central council that the Palestinian people were determined to go ahead in their struggle for the establishment of an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital. Meanwhile, media reports said Israeli-Palestinian talks were plunged into crisis last night after the Palestinian leader walked out of a meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister in a dispute over West Bank land. The meeting was aimed at giving a boost to negotiations between the two sides ahead of a February 13 deadline for a framework accord on the most contentious issues dividing them. "Today’s meeting has reached a crisis. We did not reach an agreement concerning the withdrawal from 6.1 per cent of the Palestinian territories in the West Bank", chief Palestinian negotiator Yasser Abed Rabbo said. The reports said it was the second blow to Mr Barak in his peace efforts as his talks with Syria lay in deep freeze. Israel and the
Palestinian National Authority have set a date of
September 13 to come to a final peace agreement on all
outstanding issues between them, including the thorny
questions of occupied Jerusalem and any future
Palestinian state. |
Clinton may visit Pakistan WASHINGTON, Feb 4 (PTI) — US President Bill Clinton has indicated that he has not ruled out a visit to Pakistan during his South Asia tour next month. "Well, I probably will" visit Pakistan, President Clinton told former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto during a prayer breakfast meeting here yesterday. Mr Clinton’s advisers, it is learnt, are wrestling with the problem of whether he should or shouldn’t go to Pakistan. Critics of the visit say he will cut a sorry figure if he is seen to be "coddling" a dictator. But Congressman Douglas
Bereuter has advanced the argument that Clinton must go
in order to ensure that the US retains influence there. |
More Russian ships ‘trying to help Iraq’ MUNICH, Feb 4 (Reuters) — US Defence Secretary William Cohen has said an increasing number of Russian ships were attempting to run an international embargo against Iraq. But he said there was no evidence that Moscow was officially supporting the smuggling effort. Mr Cohen said a day after a US warship detained a Russian tanker leaving the Gulf that Baghdad was increasing smuggling efforts to circumvent the decade-old embargo on oil and arms. He said the USA would "intensify our intervention efforts" to halt this. MOSCOW (UNI): Two senior diplomats of the Russian Embassy in the UAE have entered the detained oil tanker ‘Volgneft’ to make an on-the-spot study. The Russian Foreign
Ministry once again demanded the immediate release of the
detained oil tanker. In an official statement today, the
ministry said, "US action puzzles us." |
Bail for NRI in slaves’ case OAKLAND, Feb 4 (AFP) — A wealthy Indian landlord and his son have been indicted on charges that they conspired to illegally bring young women from India to San Francisco to serve as cheap labour or sex slaves, their lawyers have said. Lakireddy Bali Reddy, 62, and his 30-year-old son, Vijay Lakireddy, were out on bail on Wednesday and are to appear in Oakland federal court on Monday to be arraigned on the charges listed in the indictment. "Reddy will appear in court on Monday and plead not guilty," his attorney, Ted Cassman, told reporters after the indictment was returned. Reddy and his son allegedly falsified visa applications to import young men and women from Velvadam in South India. Vijay Reddy operates a Berkeley-based company named Active Tech Solutions, and the immigrants were brought to California on the pretext that they were skilled workers needed by the company, according to the US Immigration and Naturalisation Service. Berkeley police say
Active Tech was a facade and that most Indian immigrants
were put to work in low-paying jobs at Reddy’s
restaurants or rental properties. |
Wiranto mum on quit order JAKARTA, Feb 4 (Reuters) — Indonesia’s Defence Minister today said he had asked the former armed forces commander General Wiranto, to resign from the Cabinet but added that nothing would happen until President Abdurrahman Wahid returned. "I have fulfilled the request by the President...to tell Wiranto that he should resign...there was no reply," Juwono Sudarsono told reporters. Mr Wahid, on an overseas tour, said this week his Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs should step down after being incriminated in a report on atrocities last year in East Timor. "We have agreed to wait until the President returns (on February 13)...I urge everyone to be patient (until then)," Juwono told a brief news conference. AP adds: Rumours of a possible coup lingered in Indonesia’s capital, a day after President Wahid accused some army generals of holding secret meetings while he was overseas. Speaking at the Hague, Mr Wahid said a group of army generals had met in the Chinatown district of the Indonesian capital, not far from the presidential palace. "We fully control
the situation, so they have to be careful about what they
are doing," Mr Wahid said yesterday during a joint
news conference with Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok. |
Pak to cooperate on Laden, not democracy WASHINGTON, Feb 4 (PTI) — Pakistan’s military ruler, Gen Pervez Musharraf, has offered to go to Afghanistan to persuade the Taliban to withdraw asylum to international terrorist Osama bin Laden, whose extradition has been sought by the USA, The Washington Post reported today. Gen Musharraf made the offer at a meeting in Islamabad yesterday with foreign academics in the presence of an American correspondent, the daily reported. The military ruler, however, rejected the other American demands for making President Bill Clinton’s visit to Pakistan possible, the daily said. He refused to stop
supporting militants in Kashmir, to set a date for return
of democracy to Pakistan or give up the right to first
use of nuclear weapons, it said. |
Father’s murder avenged ISLAMABAD, Feb 4 (AFP) — An 11-year-old Pakistani boy shot dead the alleged assassin of his father and brother inside a court building as the police brought him there for trial, reports said today. Two policemen escorting the prisoner were also injured when Shah Hussain opened fire inside the Sessions Court building in the north-western city of Peshawar yesterday, The News daily reported. The slain prisoner was
alleged to have assassinated the boy’s father and
brother in an old feud, the report said, without giving
details. |
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