W O R L D

Israeli raids cut off Beirut’s power
CAIRO, Feb 8 — Israeli fighter planes strafed a Hizbollah rebel base in Lebanon early this morning injuring 15 people and destroying three major power stations which left Beirut and some other cities without any electricity, official reports from Beirut said.

A Lebanese soldier walks past Jamhur power station hit by Israeli fighter planes on Tuesday. Israeli aircraft knocked out three power stations in Lebanon, plunging towns and villages into darkness and injuring 18 civilians. — AFP

Yugoslav Defence Minister shot dead
BELGRADE, Feb 8 — Yugoslavia’s Defence Minister Pavle Bulatovic was assassinated in Belgrade yesterday evening — the latest political victim of gunmen in the Serbian capital.

Troops comb Grozny for rebels
MOSCOW, Feb 8 — Russian troops today combed the captured Chechen Capital Grozny for hidden Muslim rebel fighters, while the first reports of atrocities against civilians there began emerging.

Rubin to resign
WASHINGTON, Feb 8 — US State Department spokesman James Rubin said yesterday he will give up his high-profile job in April and join his wife, CNN correspondent Christiane Amanpour, in London Ms Amanpour is expecting their first child, a boy, in late March.

US fund-raiser goes on trial
WASHINGTON, Feb 8 — A Democratic fund-raiser hid illegal contributions made by a Buddhist temple to the 1996 Clinton-Gore re-election effort, a US prosecutor said yesterday at the start of a trial sure to revive questions about Vice-President Al Gore’s role in the campaign fund-raising scandal.

Anwar’s ‘partner’ denies charge
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 8 — The alleged sex partner of Anwar Ibrahim today denied that the two men sodomised Anwar’s family driver, insisting there was no privacy at the apartment where the forced sex supposedly took place.

Briton faces charges for aiding Pak
BOSTON, Feb 8 — A British citizen is facing federal charges that he illegally attempted to buy night-vision goggles and military aircraft blueprints for Pakistan.

Bill on homosexuality defeated
LONDON, Feb 8 — Tony Blair’s Labour government has lost an important vote in the predominantly Conservative House of Lords over its plans to repeal laws that ban local authorities such as school districts from promoting homosexuality.

Israeli raids cut off Beirut’s power

CAIRO, Feb 8 (Reuters, AFP, PTI) — Israeli fighter planes strafed a Hizbollah rebel base in Lebanon early this morning injuring 15 people and destroying three major power stations which left Beirut and some other cities without any electricity, official reports from Beirut said.

The attack came after five Israeli soldiers were killed in Hizbollah attacks in southern Lebanon over the past two weeks. One of those killed was a senior Israeli commander.

The Israeli army said the attacks were in response to “the severe escalation in the activities of Hizbollah and other organisations in southern Lebanon.”

Large parts of Lebanon were blanketed by darkness after the damage to the power stations and were shut down by local authorities as a precautionary measure to protect installations from further damage.

Beirut, Baalbek in the eastern Bekaa valley and Sidon and Tyre in the south blacked out as a consequence of the shutdown.

Reports quoting Lebanese Electricity Minister Suleiman Traoulsi said the damage to the power grid was many times than the $25 million loss caused by similar air strikes last June.

Hizbollah, in a first comment on the air strikes, said the action would not protect Israeli forces against continued Hizbollah attacks in the south.

KIRYAT SHMONA (Israel): Israel today halted its bombing of civilian targets in Lebanon as tens of thousands of Israelis stayed in bomb shelters in the north fearing retaliatory rocket attacks by Hizbollah guerrillas.

“As far as we are concerned, the bombing can stop today and indeed it’s stopped,’’ Public Security Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami told Reuters. Seven civilians were wounded in the attacks.

Prime Minister Ehud Barak, under intense public pressure to get tough after the Hizbollah killed five Israeli soldiers in the past two weeks in Israel’s occupation zone in southern Lebanon, unleashed the heaviest air raids on Lebanon in eight months.

The Hizbollah said in a statement in Beirut that the Israeli air strikes violated a US-sponsored deal, banning attacks on civilian targets, that ended an Israeli bombardment of Lebanon in 1996.

Israeli Cabinet Minister Haim Ramon told Army Radio: “We are not ready to play by the rules of the game as they have been played up to now. The understandings have restricted us from responding in Lebanon.’’

In its statement, the Hizbollah said it reserved “the right to respond in the appropriate time — which might be very soon. The enemy will not be able to impose a new formula in the confrontation field’’.

On the diplomatic front, the Israeli air offensive risked setting back efforts to restart stalled land-for-peace negotiations with Syria, the main power-broker in Lebanon.

Syria argues that it does not control the Hizbollah, which is fighting to oust Israeli occupation forces from a south Lebanon buffer zone which Israel established in 1985.

TEL AVIV: Israel will launch “more elaborate” attacks on Lebanon if the Syrian and Iranian backed Hizbollah movement retaliates with Katyusha rockets against the overnight attack on Lebanese power stations, a senior army official warned today.

Yugoslav Defence Minister shot dead

BELGRADE, Feb 8 (DPA) — Yugoslavia’s Defence Minister Pavle Bulatovic was assassinated in Belgrade yesterday evening — the latest political victim of gunmen in the Serbian capital.

Bulatovic, (52) and two other persons were victims of machinegun fire at a restaurant in Belgrade, reported B2-92 Radio.

Bulatovic was dining in the restaurant of the Rad Football Club, in Belgrade, when gunmen using automatic weapons began firing through windows, according to a BBC report.

The owner of the restaurant, Mirko Knezevic, and a banker identified as Vuc Obradovic were also shot, the BBC said.

An emergency Cabinet meeting was called in the wake of the killing. The area around the restaurant was cordoned off by the police.

Bulatovic, described as an able apparatchik staunchly loyal to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, was appointed Defence Minister in 1994.

Troops comb Grozny for rebels

MOSCOW, Feb 8 (DPA) — Russian troops today combed the captured Chechen Capital Grozny for hidden Muslim rebel fighters, while the first reports of atrocities against civilians there began emerging.

Some 300 rebels were still believed to be hiding underground sewerage and communications tunnels after the city was declared “cleansed and enemy-free’’ on Sunday after six weeks of fighting.

Army engineers also began clearing tons of booby traps and mines left by rebel defenders who withdrew in the last week.

Citing human rights organisations and eyewitness accounts, the English language newspaper “The Moscow Times” said there was evidence of widespread looting and summary executions of civilians by Russian troops in the city since December.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch told the newspaper it had uncovered several incidents in which 22 persons, mainly women and old men, were shot or killed in cellars with grenades during looting between December 22 and January 21. More deaths were being investigated.

“Some of our worst fears about what could happen in Grozny are being confirmed,’’ a spokesman for the organisation was quoted as saying.

The office of the federal military prosecutor, however, rejected the reports as “pure disinformation’’.

In the south of the separatist republic Russian troops and Chechen fighters today clashed again as federal forces advanced toward rebel camps in the mountains.

Rubin to resign

WASHINGTON, Feb 8 (Reuters) — US State Department spokesman James Rubin said yesterday he will give up his high-profile job in April and join his wife, CNN correspondent Christiane Amanpour, in London Ms Amanpour is expecting their first child, a boy, in late March.

‘‘Today marks one of those rare occasions when the reports of someone’s departure are not highly exaggerated’’ Mr Rubin, the longest-serving spokesman for any member of President Bill Clinton’s Cabinet, said in a statement.

‘‘I have informed Secretary of State Madeleine Albright that I intend to leave government service in April after seven years as her spokesman and adviser,’’ he added.

His replacement for the rest of the Clinton administration would be career diplomat Richard Boucher, who acted as spokesman for three of Ms Albright’s predecessors James Baker, Lawrence Eagleburger and Warren Christopher, Ms Albright said in a statement.

‘‘I am confident that his return to the podium will provide a smooth transition in the months ahead,’’ Ms Albright added of Ms Boucher, who is currently coordinator for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum.

Photogenic, articulate and entertaining, Mr Rubin was not just a spokesman but also a trusted friend, confidante and policy adviser to Ms Albright.

He worked for her when she was permanent representative at the United Nations and moved to Washington with her when Mr Clinton appointed Ms Albright the first woman Secretary of State ever in 1997.

Guillaume new ICJ President

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 8 (PTI) — The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has elected its new President and Vice-President for the next three years.

Judge Gilbert Guillaume, a French national, became the Hague-based court’s new President, while Judge Shi Jiuyong of China became its new Vice-President.

Both have been members of the ICJ. Guillaume has been its member since 1987 while Jiuyong since 1994.

The ICJ, comprising 15 members, is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It adjudicates disputes between states and gives advisory opinions to UN organs and specialised agencies.

US fund-raiser goes on trial

WASHINGTON, Feb 8 (Reuters) — A Democratic fund-raiser hid illegal contributions made by a Buddhist temple to the 1996 Clinton-Gore re-election effort, a US prosecutor said yesterday at the start of a trial sure to revive questions about Vice-President Al Gore’s role in the campaign fund-raising scandal.

Prosecutor Eric Yaffee said Maria Hsia concealed “the true sources of thousands of dollars of illegal contributions she solicited” from the California temple and others for the Democratic Party and the Clinton-Gore campaign.

In opening arguments, Mr Yaffee said Hsia “made a conscious decision to undermine” the federal electoral process “to advance her own business and political interests” and gain access to Democratic politicians.

He said Hsia and former Democratic fund-raiser John Huang helped arrange an April 29, 1996, event at the Hsi Lai temple near Los Angeles, which Mr Gore attended but said he did not know was for fund raising.

The visit, widely depicted in photographs showing the Vice-President among monks and nuns in saffron-coloured robes, has come to epitomise the 1996 fund-raising scandal.

The event at the largest Buddhist temple in the USA raised $ 65,000 in illegal contributions, according to the indictment. The checks were made out by individual nuns and monks, but the temple reimbursed them for their contributions, Mr Yaffee said.

The temple, a tax-exempt religious organisation, was barred by law from making political contributions. Hsia “used a religious corporation in order to advance her scheme,” said Mr Yaffee, a Justice Department prosecutor.

Anwar’s ‘partner’ denies charge

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 8 (AP) — The alleged sex partner of Anwar Ibrahim today denied that the two men sodomised Anwar’s family driver, insisting there was no privacy at the apartment where the forced sex supposedly took place.

Sukma Dermawan and Anwar, the former Deputy Prime Minister who is serving a six-year jail term for corruption, are accused of committing a homosexual act. The sodomy trial resumed today after a break for the Chinese New Year.

Sukma, who is Anwar’s adopted brother, told the court that Azizan Abu Abakar lied when he told the court that the two men forced him to have sex.

Briton faces charges for aiding Pak

BOSTON, Feb 8 (AP) — A British citizen is facing federal charges that he illegally attempted to buy night-vision goggles and military aircraft blueprints for Pakistan.

Jonathan Reynolds, (33) had an initial appearance in a US district court in Boston yesterday. He faces a detention hearing before Judge Marianne Bowler tomorrow.

Reynolds, who listed his residence as Bangkok, was arrested on Saturday near Boston, said US Attorney’s spokeswoman Samantha Martin. She wouldn’t specify where.

She said Reynolds allegedly conspired to violate US Export laws by attempting to procure military goods for Pakistan. Since 1990, the congress has also banned the transfer of military equipment and technology from the USA to Pakistan.

Bill on homosexuality defeated

LONDON, Feb 8 (AP) — Tony Blair’s Labour government has lost an important vote in the predominantly Conservative House of Lords over its plans to repeal laws that ban local authorities such as school districts from promoting homosexuality.

The Lords backed by 210 votes to 165 votes a move yesterday to keep the law, known as Section 28, in place during the committee stage of the Bill’s passage through the Lords.

WORLD BRIEFS

11 killed in blast in Russia
MOSCOW: At least 11 persons were killed and 10 injured in a suspected gas explosion early today at an apartment block in the town of Kabarovsk, in Russia’s far East, the Itar-Tass news agency cited emergency services as saying. According to preliminary information, an eight-year-old child was among the victims. The explosion was apparently caused by a gas leak in one of the apartments, the emergency services said, adding that residents had reported smelling gas just before the blast. — AFP

4 die in mid-air collision over LA
LOS ANGELES: Two small planes collided over Los Angeles and dropped out of the clear, sunny sky, one of them crashing in flames on a golf course, killing all four persons aboard. Two men were killed in the plane that plunged through power lines and landed on the golf course, and a couple believed to be in their 60s died in the other plane, which fell into the trees near busy Interstate 5 on Monday, said Fire Department spokesman Bob Collis. — AP

Japan’s first woman Governor
TOKYO: Fusae Ota, a trade ministry bureaucrat and a housewife with political ambition, became Japan’s first elected Governor of a prefecture on Monday to the delight of Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi’s three-party ruling coalition. Ms Ota, who belongs to no party, was officially declared elected Governor of Osaka. All major parties, including the three governing and the leading opposition Japan Democratic Party, backed her candidacy. — PTI

Hunger-driven man eats dog’s heart
SARAJEVO: A homeless alcoholic slit the throat of a dog and ate its still beating heart on a main street in the central Bosnian city of Zenica, a Sarajevo daily said quoting witnesses. Other homeless people in Zenica told the Dnevni Avaz paper on Monday they believed that the 45-year-old man, reported to be a disturbed person, “had not had anything else to eat” when he took to the drastic measure. The police detained the man and transferred him to a hospital. — AFP

Elephant tramples zoo-keeper to death
LONDON: A keeper at a British zoo was crushed to death on Monday by one of the Indian elephants in his care. Darren Cockrill, 27, was found in the female elephant’s stall with multiple injuries and was declared dead on arrival at a hospital in Ashford southeast of London, Port Lympne Zoo said. — Reuters

Ferret ‘punishes’ policeman
SYDNEY: A pet ferret that bit a Brisbane policeman’s penis while resisting arrest was recovering after sustaining a blow from the officer’s truncheon during the violent struggle. The officer was ferrying the animal to a wildlife sanctuary when it dived for his genitals. A police spokesman said the officer was back at work while the owner of the ferret was charged with the possession of prohibited wildlife. — DPA

Accused says he was ‘bewitched’
PARIS: A 27-year-old man who claims to be bewitched went on trial in France on Monday. He is accused of killing two women and badly assaulting four others with his bare hands. Mamadou Traore, a French citizen of Senegalese descent, has told investigators that he attacked the women, aged 11 to 70, three years ago. Doctors have said Traore, who was identified from fingerprints and DNA tests, was mentally affected. — Reuters

Yeltsin writing memoirs
NEW YORK: Russia’s former President Boris Yeltsin, is writing a book about his years as leader of the world’s largest country, the book’s publisher said on Monday. New York-based publisher Publicaffairs said Mr Yeltsin, who turned 69 earlier this month, had already begun work on the book, provisionally titled “Midnight Diaries”, which it expects to release in Russia and the rest of the world in October. — Reuters

Spielberg undergoes kidney surgery
LOS ANGELES: Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg had one of his kidneys removed after doctors found an “irregularity” on the organ, his spokesman said on Monday. Spielberg, 52, was back at home recuperating following the surgery performed at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, the filmmaker’s spokesman, Marvin Levy, said. — Reuters