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| Sunday, February 6, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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Pak for talks on Kashmir 50 injured in anti-Haider riots Clashes in Kosovo, curfew imposed |
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UK officials caught in visa fraud Crackdown on Falun Gong sect Internet for 215 a month 5 killed in Pak blasts EgyptAir pilot seeks asylum
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Pak for talks on Kashmir ISLAMABAD, Feb 5 (PTI, AFP) — A day after declaring that Kashmir was the only issue of contention between New Delhi and Islamabad, Pakistan’s military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf today said he was ready to meet Indian leaders provided talks focussed only on this issue even as New Delhi rejected the proposal saying that Pak has to create "right atmosphere" for talks. "Kashmir is the root cause of tensions and all other matters are only small tensions," General Musharraf told a so-called Kashmir solidarity day rally near Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The General said he was ready to meet anybody, including Indian leaders, for dialogue on the issue "but the only condition is that talks must concentrate on the resolution of this long-standing problem". He claimed violence in Kashmir was not "terrorism" and that he had told recent delegations from the USA, the UK and the European Union that "they should distinguish between terrorism and freedom struggle." Earlier, in an interview to PTV yesterday, General Musharraf said Kashmir was the only issue of contention with India and offered to initiate talks solely on this subject. "Except Kashmir there is no other dispute," the General said. "Other issues are only irritants," he remarked. He also referred to US President Bill Clinton’s visit to India in March and said "...It is in interest of peace in the region that when he comes to India, he should also come to Pakistan." The Pak ruler alleged India could get wrong ideas and further build up tension along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir if the US leader omitted Pakistan from the tour. Meanwhile, General Musharraf rejected a US call for banning the militant outfit Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, which already has been placed by Washington on its list of terrorist groups, the Washington Post reported on Sunday. NEW DELHI: India on Saturday asserted that Pakistan has to create the "right atmosphere" which includes cessation of cross-border terrorism and stoppage of hostile anti-India propaganda for a dialogue with New Delhi and firmly ruled out any third party mediation on the Kashmir issue. "Our position (on having parleys with Islamabad) remains unchanged," a foreign office spokesman said in response to questions on General Musharraf’s remarks in an interview to PTV and while addressing a meeting today in Muzaffarabad in PoK. "We are not
surprised by these kind of comments. We have always been
the initiators of the dialogue. We have maintained the
position that Pakistan has to create the right atmosphere
which includes cessation of cross-border terrorism and
cessation of hostile propaganda against India," the
spokesman said. |
50 injured in anti-Haider riots VIENNA, Feb 5 (Reuters) — More than 50 persons were injured in overnight riots in central Vienna following the inclusion of the rightist Freedom Party in Austria’s new government, local media said today. Austrian radio quoted the police as saying 43 police officers and 13 anti-rightist demonstrators were injured in the clashes in an elegant shopping district near the landmark St Stephen’s cathedral. Seven arrests were made. Late yesterday and early today the police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse a hardcore of around 200 militant masked demonstrators who threw stones and other missiles at them. Freedom Party leader Joerg Haider, known abroad mainly for remarks in the past that seemed to belittle Nazi atrocities, called on the opposition Social Democrats and Greens to "rein in their supporters who obviously have gone out of control". "Yes to the freedom of opinion and the right to demonstrate," Mr Haider told APA news agency. "No to Violence." An Austrian human rights group, Sos Mitmensch, cancelled a demonstration against Mr Haider scheduled for today because of the overnight violence, local radio reported. Left-wing protesters took to the streets yesterday when conservative chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel’s centre-right government was sworn in by President Thomas Klestil in the imperial Hofburg Palace, which was turned into a virtual fortress as riot police held back demonstrators. APA quoted the police as saying several foreign youths were among the protesters in the overnight riots, which were unusually violent by Austrian standards. The demonstrations took place as Austria’s 14 European Union partners began moves to isolate the new government politically, even though Mr Haider himself is not in the cabinet. Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel said Austria was not a pariah state, and a new Hitler was not on the rise with the inclusion of Joerg Haider’s far-right freedom party in his coalition. "This is not in line with the spirit of the European Union. Has not the European Union gone too far?" Mr Schuessel said. The Clinton administration has vowed to keep a close watch on developments in Austria, now that the far right Freedom party has joined the coalition government. Officials in Washington said yesterday they would "limit" contact with Vienna, while Secretary of State Madeleine Albright ordered the US Ambassador to Austria home for consultations. US officials stressed
that the summons did not amount to a formal diplomatic
recall, but added that the situation could change as
Washington observes the actions of the government, which
was sworn in earlier yesterday. |
Clashes in Kosovo, curfew imposed KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Yugoslavia, Feb 5 (Reuters) — NATO-led peacekeepers in Kosovo fired tear gas and imposed a curfew after an eruption of violence between Serbs and Albanians which prompted deep international concern. The peacekeepers yesterday used tear gas and booming percussion grenades to scatter a crowd of several hundred ethnic Albanians in the city of Mitrovica venting their anger after a night of grenade attacks and shootings which left six people dead. All the killings appeared to have taken place in Serb-dominated northern Mitrovica. Four of the dead were ethnic Albanians and two were ethnic Turks, another mainly Muslim minority in the area, the KFOR peacekeeping force said. Some 15 Serbs and six Albanians were wounded. An eight-year-old boy was among the dead, a spokeswoman for the U.N. mission in Kosovo said. The clashes, hard on the heels of a deadly rocket attack this week on a U.N. Bus carrying Serbs, marked one of the worst spates of violence since international authorities took de facto control of the Yugoslav province in June last year. The French commander of peacekeepers in the region imposed a curfew beginning at 7 p.m. A helicopter dropped leaflets explaining the measure from above the run-down industrial city. "The situation is so tense that security comes before all else," General Pierre de Saqui de Sannes told reporters. U.S. defence secretary William Cohen, in Munich for a security conference, said the violence showed the need for Europe to help build a civilian police force in Kosovo. U.S. officials and military peacekeeping commanders say only 2,000 of a needed 6,000 civilian police have been sent to Kosovo and that the European Union has not paid any of the 35 million dollars it promised for that force. Around five peacekeepers
were wounded in yesterday’s clash which was ended
with the help of officers from the Kosovo Protection
Corps (KPC), a force formed to provide a new role for
ex-ethnic Albanian guerrillas who fought Serbian rule. |
37 bodies exhumed in E.Timor DILI (East Timor), Feb 5 (DPA) — The bodies of 37 persons murdered in one of the worst massacres in East Timor last September have been exhumed so far, a UN Human Rights investigation team disclosed today. They are among 56 persons confirmed buried in passage in the Oecussi Enclave following the wave of murder and destruction inflicted on East Timor by pro-Jakarta militias reportedly under the direction of the Indonesian police and military. Five months after the scorched-earth campaign against East Timor, in response to an overwhelming vote in favour of independence from Jakarta’s rule, mass-grave sites are still being found in many parts of the territory. A combined team of UN police and international Interfet peacekeepers, led by two forensic experts, the completed exhumations of the corpses from 25 grave sites running along the border with Indonesia’s West Timor. According to witnesses the "sakuna" militia had rounded up 70 pro-independence supporters from two villages in Oecussi, formerly a Portuguese Enclave, and killed most of them with machetes. The exhumed bodies are
being flown back to Dili for further examination to
ascertain the cause of death. |
Plot to kill Lankan President: paper COLOMBO, Feb 5 (UNI) — The LTTE is plotting to assassinate President Chandrika Kumaratunga before she invites them for peace talks, the state-run Dail News reported today. A front page report in the daily, quoting intelligence sources, said the objective of the plot was to kill the President before the political solution was implemented and take over the administration of the North-East. The LTTE’s plan was in line with an agreement already reached with the United National Party (UNP). The report also attributed the LTTE’s apparent keenness for peace talks to a desire to conceal the plot from the outside world. In her independence day message to the nation yesterday, the President outlined her government’s desire to invite the LTTE for talks in the process of constitutional reforms. The government is
expected to consult all political parties, including the
UNP on the peace process before inviting the LTTE for
talks. |
UK officials caught in visa fraud LONDON, Feb 5 (PTI) — A hidden camera caught two British Home Office officials illegally endorsing passports in return for thousands of pounds in bribes, media reports said here yesterday. Paul Lissenburg and Simon Ellis, who worked in the Nationality and Immigration Directorate in Croydon, South London, used their security passes to get into the nearby immigration processing centre at night, English daily "Telegraph" quoted the prosecution as saying. The duo used duplicate keys to gain access to highly sensitive areas in the deserted offices at night, the Harrow Crown Court was told. While Ellis located and removed files, Lissenburg used the "indefinite leave to stay" stamps to endorse up to 10 passports at a time, the paper reported. Both admitted theft and forgery conspiracy and gave evidence against their paymaster, Robin Eguntsamy of Mauritian-origin, who was convicted on Thursday. Two hundred people, mainly Mauritians, paid Engutsamy 4,000 pound each to help them bypass immigration requirements and settle in Britain illegally. Engutsamy used the money
to bribe civil servants and buy property in Mauritius,
the court was told. |
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HYDERABAD, (Pakistan), Feb 5 (Reuters) — Bombs planted on a busy train and in a Saturday market killed at least five persons today and injured many more, the police said. One bomb ripped apart the wagon of a passenger train in the southern Pakistani town of Hyderabad, killing four persons and injuring 43, the police said. They said the explosion
occurred just as the train left Hyderabad railway station
in Sindh province for the town of Mirpur Khas west. |
Internet for 215 a month WASHINGTON, Feb 5 (PTI) — To serve its customers better and accelerate development of manpower, Ford Motor Co., has announced that it will provide every one of its 350,000 employees worldwide with a computer, colour printer and unlimited access to internet for $ 5 (Rs 215) a month. "We are committed to serve our customers better by understanding how they think and act. Having a computer and internet access in the home will accelerate development of these skills, provide information across our business, and offer opportunities to streamline our processes," Jacques Nasser, President and Chief Executive of Ford, said here yesterday. The programme, which
will cost the company $ 300 million, will be more than
offset by gains in making all its employees
computer-literate. |
Crackdown on Falun Gong sect BEIJING, Feb 5 (AFP) — The Chinese police has detained hundreds, and possibly thousands of practitioners of the outlawed Falun Gong movement, including a US citizen, in a crackdown on a Lunar Year protest, members and rights officials said today. "A friend of mine was arrested last night and about 1.55 a.m., she called me on her cellular phone and told me she was detained with between 2,000 and 3,000 (others)," Ms Hannah Li, a Falun Gong member told AFP. Mrs Li said her friend, a US passport-holding Chinese American, was taken early today to northern Beijing’s Xiao Tangshan detention center and hoped to remain in police custody as long as possible to document the treatment of the followers. She refused to identify the woman and believed the police had yet to discover her cellular phone. "We have come here to help the mainland followers," said Ms Li, a US green card holder. "We want to tell the government that Falun Gong is not an evil sect and that followers should be allowed to do their morning exercises freely." An official at the detention center confirmed that Falun Gong followers were being held there, but refused to reveal how many. "If they are Falun Gong followers, then you don’t need to ask about them," she said. Mr Frank Lu, head of the
Hong Kong-based Information Centre of Human Rights and
Democratic Movement in China said he had been informed
that at least 300 Falun Gong followers had been rounded
up since the past two days. |
EgyptAir pilot seeks asylum CAIRO, Feb 5 (AP) — An EgyptAir pilot who claims to have information about the fatal crash last year of one of the airline’s planes reportedly has asked for political asylum in Britain. The official Middle East News Agency carried a statement yesterday from EgyptAir quoting the airline’s Chairman, Mohammed Fahim Rayan, as saying that the pilot, Hamdi Hanafi Taha, 49, had asked for asylum. Rayan said Taha claimed
to have information on the October 31 EgyptAir crash off
the eastern coast of the USA that killed all 217 persons
aboard, the report said. The plane went down in the ocean
40 minutes into an 11-hour flight from New York to Cairo. |
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